Unexpected
by whitedove03
Summary: I am still struggling to finish this story. I won't be updating any time soon. John is working his last case for the FBI and it proves to be his most challenging when Natalie Buchanan is a victim of his perp. This fic IS now rated NC17. Reviews are much appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

**This is an AU story!!!!!!! I have changed several storyline details in this. Natalie never married Mitch Lawrence. Christian is not in the picture and never has been. Rex is still a Balsom but he came with her when Natalie came to Llanview and is liked and respected by every member of the Buchanan clan. Jessica, Kevin and Joey are in London running BE. Clint is also there. Natalie is not a Forensic Tech. She is a full-fledged Forensic annalist. (Working in the lab not in the field) That's about it. Any other changes you will have to find out by reading. So happy reading!**

**Unexpected **

**Attn: I don't own John or Natalie or any other OLTL character. I do own everyone else though.**

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**Chapter 1**

The wind rustled the trees, leaves falling lazily onto the ground below. Flashing lights disturbed the tranquil peace of the forest. Animals scurried away in the dark, unseen by the men invading the clearing. The scene was grim. A young woman lay on the ground. Dead. Underneath her was a plastic tarp protecting the lush green grass from the flow of blood. Next to the woman was a bloody knife, obviously the murder weapon. The crowd around the body parted as another car pulled in, FBI.

This was the last case that John McBain would be working as an FBI agent. He was moving to Llanview to be near his family, they missed him and he missed them. But these were not what thoughts he was thinking as he stepped from the car and into the crime scene. He was thinking now of the killer, the serial killer to be exact. This was the fourth victim to be found this way. Hopefully the last. He sighed as he took in the local cops, they were likely to be territorial about it. As were most local cops.

Pushing his shaggy dark brown hair from his face John walked to the body only to be detained by a fat man with a sour look on his face. Rotating his shoulders in the worn black leather jacket he wore he prepared himself for the "Fuck the FBI this is our jurisdiction speech."

The two men stared at one another, each measuring the other up. John stayed silent waiting for the other man to break the silence. It wasn't long before that happened.

"Who are you," the as yet unidentified man asked. His voice was gruff yet had the unmistakable ring of authority. John looked closer into the man's eyes and saw hostility there but under that was keen interest and a sharp intelligence that he hadn't expected.

"John McBain, FBI" John answered. He kept staring directly into the other mans eyes, refusing to back down at all. "You in charge here?" he asked keeping his voice firm but polite. It wouldn't do to make an enemy of this man, especially since they would be working together.

The other man stared another moment then the hostility fled from his eyes and he actually smiled. "Craig Houser. Yes I am in charge. I was told someone from the FBI would be here. Nice to meet you. Just wish it was under better circumstances." He held out his hand and when John took it he gave him a firm handshake before letting go and turning to the dead body on the ground. "You up on this guy?"

John was surprised at the mans abrupt change in mood. He was not used to this type of welcome. He also turned to the body before speaking, "I read the file." He knew that it was important to get all the facts before jumping into such a case. He studied the scene as he waited for the other man to speak.

Rarely had John ever seen a crime scene so neat. All the blood was confined to the plastic tarp. The woman's body lay on its stomach but from what John could tell she was a redhead, probably about 5 foot five or so, slender, on the skinny side really, no shoes but clad in a light blue silky nightgown. Or at least that's what it looked like under all that blood. He felt a moments pity for the poor unfortunate victim before ruthlessly pushing it aside in an effort to remain detached.

Craig studied John closely, looking for the arrogance, the superiority that usually came with men from the FBI and found none. He took a moment to gather his thoughts asking the question he wanted to ask. After a minute he began to speak. "Tell me what your impression of this guy is...?"

"I don't know much about him yet, but I do think it's a man. From the way he kills I think he either hates women or maybe just a specific one. He always kills redheads, always of medium height, always white. That tells me he either really likes redheads or he really hates them. Maybe he is substituting, pretending to kill a specific woman over and over. He always stabs them and leaves the body and the knife in the forest. This tells me that either he simply likes the outdoors or that he identifies with it for some reason." John stopped speaking for a moment as the CSI's continued to process the body. "The use of a knife suggests a crime of passion. He likes for it to be personal, he likes to see them die yet he turns them on their stomach so he doesn't have to look at their face. I think he does that because he doesn't want to see their face after he kills them. This suggests he does feel something. I am just not sure what. Maybe guilt or maybe even disgust."

Craig digested this all for a long moment. He was impressed with John's knowledge and assessment. This was definitely the man he wanted to have on this case. He just hoped no other women would die before they solved it.

"We're ready to turn her over," called one of the CSIs.

Craig nodded and then asked, "We got any Id on the victim yet?"

"Not yet." The CSI replied then slowly began to turn over the body.

"Oh my God!" One of the other CSI's said then ran for the bushes and began to retch. The face of the victim was gone. Literally gone. Someone had actually peeled the skin off leaving a bloody mess the resembled ground meat.

Even John was sickened by the sight as he took it in. This was a deviation from the normal routine of the killer. He studied the body more thoroughly and saw that there was something written on the body underneath the nightgown. He carefully stepped over to the body and lifted the gown with his gloved hand. When he read the word written on the stomach of the woman he understood what the missing face meant.

"Nobody"

"He is escalating," Craig said.

"Yeah, I just don't understand why he picked now. I wonder if something happened to make him need to hide the identity of the victim as well." The two deviations bothered him a lot and John knew that until he figured it out he wouldn't be getting any peace.

"I found something!" Called the CSI that had been vomiting behind a bush. He came out holding a purse. "Maybe this belonged to the victim," he said.

**

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_10 minutes prior to John showing up at the scene _

Natalie ran through the woods like the hounds of hell were chasing her. Waking up from her drugged slumber in the trunk of a parked car was enough to push anyone into panic mode. Taking a nail file she had cut thru the seat and climbed out. Carrying her purse and leaving her shoes she took off through the nearby woods.

The darkness gave her cover and for that she was grateful, especially when she heard a masculine voice screaming at her to stop. As she ran she tried to remember how she had ended up in the trunk of that car. The last thing she remembered was coming home from work. She had been walking to her door when someone came from behind her and presses something to her face. Everything after that was a blank.

She ran as fast as she could, the rough ground cutting into her feet. She had to get away! She could hear he kidnapper running behind her and he was catching up. The fear made her movements clumsy but the adrenaline kept her moving as she felt time and time again, cutting her hands and arms up in the process. Her slacks torn and bloody and her shirt getting tears in it left and right she continued to run. Through the dense trees she saw a glimmer of something and stared at it trying to make it out.

Lights! She saw lights in the distance. They looked like police lights. Gasping in relief she ran toward them, the snapping branches and cursing from behind her becoming more distant until they stopped all together. Nearing the scene Natalie skidded to a holt, dropping her purse. Staring wide-eyed at a body she froze as she realized that it was a murder scene! She saw the victim and gasped again when she saw that it was a redhead of her same body build.

She stood there frozen for a moment, not seeing anyone or anything but the body on the ground then started forward into the protective light. "Ummph!" She tried screaming but a hand blocked off the sound and she felt her self lifted him and dragged quickly but silently away from the scene.

"Gotcha!" Snarled a furious voice from behind her then she felt a prick in her neck and everything went dark.

**To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Attn: I don't own John or Natalie or any other OLTL character. I do own everyone else though.**

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**Chapter 2**

_Llanview Pennsylvania that same night around 11pm_

The police commissioner was worried. Afraid even. His office usually cluttered was now in total disarray as he vented his frustration. 20 calls and not once had she picked up. Not once had she called back. His suit was stained from not having changed it when he spilled coffee on it earlier in the day. He hadn't even thought of leaving the station to change it because he was so concerned about Natalie. She was no where to be found, hadn't shown up for work nor had she been home the night before, according to her mother. He grabbed the receiver up and punched in the familiar number and waited for it to ring.

_Ring, Ring_ "Hi, you have reached Natalie Buchanan. Leave a message at the beep" 

Beeeeep...

Bo cursed under his breath and left a message. "Natty honey... where are you? I have been trying to call you all day. Are you ok? Call me back as soon as you get in. I'm worried about you."

Bo leaned back in his chair and got lost in thought. This wasn't like Natalie. Not at all. After she didn't show up to work this morning he had begun calling everyone he could think of that might know where she was. No one knew anything. The last anyone had seen of her she had been leaving to go home the night before. Not even her adopted brother Rex, with whom she was very close, knew where she was.

Pushing he sleeves up to his elbows Bo leaned forward, the chair back slamming back in place with a loud snap. Resting both elbows on the desktop he cradled his head in his hands and took a deep breath. He was really starting to fear something had happened to his favorite niece. He sat like that for a good 10 minutes while he tried to decide what to do. He had half a mind to contact John McBain.

He was Michael McBain's brother but more importantly he was FBI. If anyone could find Natalie quickly and with out causing a media frenzy it would be him. But he was loath to bother the man because he was on his last case with the FBI before coming here and taking over the Chief of Police position.

_Ring, Ring_

Bo jumped in his chair the sudden ringing of the telephone. A quick glance at the caller ID had him breathing a sigh of relief. It was Natalie's cell.

"Natalie?! Where have you been? I have been calling you all day!"

* * *

John took the purse from the CSI with gloved hands. It was a small leather one with just enough room for a wallet and cell phone. He took out the wallet and looked at the drivers license. The name on it was Natalie Balsom. The address was Llanview Pennsylvania. What were the odds? he thought to himself. Looking at the height and physical description the victim could be this girl. He would need someone to identify the body though. Opening the cell phone he thumbed thru the name.

As he flipped open the sickeningly pink phone and went thru the numbers one made him pause. Uncle Bo... Could that possibly be Bo Buchanan? He lived in Llanview. Was actually going to be John's new boss when this case was over. Come to think of it Asa Buchanan was Bo's father. Maybe the victim was related to the Buchanan's somehow. He looked to the woman now currently being loaded into a waiting ambulance then back to the license. It definitely could be her. He would have to wait till after the autopsy to call the numbers on the phone.

With a sigh he walked over to Craig and told him he was going with the body to the morgue. There would be an autopsy right away. Then he went to the ambulance and got in. When they got to the morgue he introduced himself to the Dr doing the autopsy and said he was there to observe.

Two hours later after the autopsy John was ready for a break. The woman, whom he believed to be Natalie Buchanan, had died from exsanguination, bled out. She had been stabbed 35 times and then the face had been removed, postmortem. From the look of the scene and the pooling of blood on more than one part of the body that the murder took place at a different location and had been moved to the clearing in the woods.

During the autopsy they had found a new tattoo on the body that should make identifying her much easier. (A small butterfly on the ankle) That is if anyone had known she had it. John shook his head, his gut was telling him something was off about this murder. It had the same M.O as the others yet it didn't feel the same to him. Something was different but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

He sighed after a moment of contemplation. Looking around the sitting room he was in, just down the hall from the morgue, he saw a TV mounted on the wall and shook his head wryly. Who comes to the morgue to watch TV.? he wondered to himself before taking the cell phone out and calling the Uncle Bo from the list. Hopefully he was wrong and it wasn't really Bo Buchanan, his soon to be boss. But he wasn't betting on it.

* * *

Natalie groaned deeply as she began to wake up. Her eyes flew open as she realized what had happened to her. Kidnapped again! As her eyes slowly adjusted to the lack of light she tried to move only to discover her hands were bound behind her and her feet were also tied together. She struggled for a minute then began to scream in panic as she realized two things, one that she was tightly bound and couldn't get loose, and two she was back in the trunk of the car she had previously escaped from.

She was struggling so hard that the car was rocking and bouncing with her movements. The noise of her screams echoed around the small trunk and hurt her ears but she didn't stop until the trunk was wrenched open and an evil looking man glared down at her.

Natalie was both angry and terrified as she saw the man looking down at her with a murderous look. She didn't know what emotion made her lash out with her bound feet but she did it. Her bloodied feet mad contact with his face and he fell back screaming in pain. As soon as he did Natalie let loose a blood-curdling shriek, trying to get the attention of anyone that might be near by.

The man, now recovered, slammed the trunk back down in fury leaving her in the dark once again. She felt the car start and race off, away from the area. When it screeched to a stop again she was even more terrified of what was going to happen. The asshole that kidnapped her was pissed at her for kicking him as well as escaping the first time. She was positive that she wasn't leaving this trunk alive.

A minute passed, then another as she waited for the trunk to open and her death to begin yet nothing happened. She held her breath listening for some sound. Everything was quiet then there was 2 loud pops followed by another pop. She knew those sounds. She heard them every day at work; they were gunshots. Someone had just been shot.

Hope filled her as she heard those shots. Maybe the killer, for that is what she was sure he was, had been in a short shoot out with the cops.

"Natalie?" someone called. The voice was muffled because of the trunk so she couldn't tell who it was. She began screaming and kicking the trunk to let her rescuer know where she was.

"In here!" She screamed as loud as she could. She stopped screaming when the trunk was opened. She squinted up at her rescuer, unable to make out their face because of the flashlight shining down on her. "Help me," she said to them. She was relieved when he reached down and took her in his arms and carried her from the trunk. Taking a knife he cut the bonds from her wrists and feet quickly. As she was set on her feet she stumbled slightly and her rescuer took hold of her arm firmly to steady her.

Finally getting her bearings she looked around expecting to see the flashing lights of cop cars and was surprised when she saw none. What she did see confused her. They were on a dirt road in the middle of the woods. In front of the car that she had been kidnapped in was a brand new black Lincoln blocking the road. She looked around a bit more and saw the body of her kidnapper lying on the ground in a pool of blood... he looked familiar somehow. She thought to herself.

Still confused and dazed Natalie looked around more and saw movement by the black Lincoln. Someone was getting out of the back seat of the car. Her gut telling her that this was wrong she tried to back up only to find that her rescuer had a firm grip on her arm and wasn't letting go.

"Let me go," Natalie demanded, panicking again.

"Now, now, now, my darling wife. Don't make this anymore difficult then it already is." There was a tsking noise and Natalie felt her blood run cold at the sound of that voice. One she had believed, prayed, that she would never hear again. She started trembling in fear as the owner of the voice came into the light.

**To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Attn: I don't own John or Natalie or any other OLTL character. I do own everyone else though.**

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**Chapter 3**

"Getting kidnapped twice in one night. That's got to be a record for you my dear," he said silkily then cocked his head as if realizing a mistake. "No make that three times," he said cheerfully and nodded to the other man beside her.

"NO!" Natalie screamed struggling weakly as her rescuer turned kidnapper hauled her kicking and screaming to the black Lincoln and threw her into the back seat.

The two men looked at each other and shrugged. They knew Natalie was too weak to escape them so they left her unbound. They were right, because when they got into the car Natalie was passed out. Probably from exhaustion and shock. Seeing this they left the dead man in the middle of the road and drove off.

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_**3 days later. **_

Bo still couldn't believe it. His niece was dead. Natalie was dead. How was he supposed to tell her brother Rex who had just returned to town and was sitting in his office waiting for Bo to return? He just didn't know what to say to the other man. Rex loved Natalie more than anyone even though they weren't biologically related. To tell that young man that Natalie was dead... it would destroy him.

But it had to be done.

Bo took a deep breath and entered his office. He slapped Rex's feet off his desk automatically before sitting done in his chair behind the desk. Studying the younger man carefully Bo took in the worried expression on his face, the short blond hair that looked like Rex had run his hands thru it repeatedly in worry, the tension in his body. It all told him that Rex already knew something wasn't right. He looked Rex in the eye and started, "Rex..."

Rex tensed immediately at Bo's tone. He looked Bo square in the face and knew, he just knew, that what ever Bo was about to say would change his life. And not for the better. He was almost positive it was about Natalie. Something was wrong, he had been feeling it for days. It wasn't too strong at first, just a nagging little feeling that something wasn't right but over the past 3 days it had gotten stronger and stronger until he could think of little else. Trying Natalie's cell and having the voicemail pick up every time didn't help matters at all.

So he had cut his vacation short and had come home to make sure she was all right. So here he was, waiting for Bo to tell him where Natalie was. After a moment of silence in which Bo was obviously struggling to find the right words Rex finally snapped, "For God sake just tell me!"

Bo blinked then did as Rex had asked, "I'm sorry Rex, Natalie was murdered." Tears formed in his eyes as he finished speaking. The pain of the loss still pierced his chest, sharp and agonizing like the blade of the knife that had killed Natalie. As the tears blurred his vision and spilled onto his face Bo put his face in his hands and took a deep breath, trying to get himself back under control.

Rex choked at Bo's blunt words and gasped as their meaning hit him with all the force of a sledge hammer to the chest. "Wh... What?" he gasped, not believe he had heard correctly. He stared at Bo and saw his tears and knew that he had heard correctly. For a second he stopped breathing then he let out a gasping sob and jumped up in panic, "No! That's not possible. She's not dead! She's Not! I would have known! I would know if she were...!" He began backing away from Bo and hit the opposite wall still denying the words.

Bo pulled himself together long enough to get up and go to the man that was almost a son to him. As Rex sank to the floor still mumbling Bo went down too and embraced him. Together they sat there for a long time, until Rex had gotten himself back under control. As Bo felt Rex pull away and wipe his eyes with the back of the sweatshirt he wore he let go and stood up.

Rex also got up and sat back in the chair he abandoned. Now that the initial shock had passed and the pain had turned to white-hot fury he was able to speak. He wanted details. He needed to know what happened and why. "Murdered? Who did it? Have you caught them yet?"

Bo swallowed back the remaining tears that clogged his throat and answered in a hallow voice. "So far it looks like she was kidnapped at home then murdered. We believe it was the work of the serial killer that they are calling 'The Forest Desecrator' He hasn't been caught yet.

"Are you sure it was Natalie? Maybe it wasn't her!" Rex asked, still not really believing Natalie was dead. He felt like he would have known if she had died. Even if they weren't blood he still felt like he would know.

Bo shook his head and said softly, "I identified the body." He didn't say more, didn't want Rex to know that there really hadn't been much to identify. That they had to use the prints and the tattoo that Natalie had gotten the day she had died to identify her.

Rex teared up again at that but didn't say anything. There wasn't anything to say. It was all he could do not to fall apart again as the pain of the loss of his sister hit him again. He just got up and stumbled out of Bo's office. He needed to go home, to be alone.

Bo watched Rex leave and he too again felt the staggering loss of the woman he had loved so much. Natalie might have only been his niece but she had been more like a daughter too him. Not seeing her, Never hearing her voice again was still unthinkable to him.

* * *

John still felt terrible for bringing such horrible news to his new boss. Seeing Bo identify his niece had touched a cord in him that John hadn't known was still there. He had been there when Bo had called Vicki Buchanan to tell her and he had heard the shock and grief from the woman on the other end of the phone. Opposed to the other victims of this killer this girl would be sorely missed.

'The forest desecrater' the Media had dubbed the guy, what a stupid name he thought to himself as he looked at the newest victim. Different town, same MO. God he was tired of all this, tired of seeing so much useless death, tired of getting into the head of these monsters. He was really looking forward to being a small town cop in a place where murder wasn't around every corner.

John took a deep breath and pushed all other thoughts from his head and concentrated on the scene before him. He studied the body, the surrounding area. On the surface it seemed almost identical to the previous murders but something felt off about it to John. It felt different somehow. He couldn't put his finger on it right now but something wasn't right here.

John looked over at the man next to him and said, "I want a full report on the body and detailed pictures."

The other man nodded, following orders with out complaint. He had heard about John McBain. He was the best and that's what they needed right now. After 5 murders the public was crying out for justice and John working the case was the best chance they had at getting it. After talking with his men he came back and asked, "What are you thinking?"

"Something doesn't fit. Something is off here. This one feels different to me." John explained briefly. He closed his eyes tiredly and said, "I'm going back to the office. Get that report to me as soon as you can." With that John left the scene and drove back to the station. He had some thinking to do and there was nothing left for him to do at the crime scene.

John was sitting at his makeshift desk 2 hours later when the report came in. He took the folder and opened it up. He began reading it and at first it seemed normal, like the other murders, then John spotted something in the report that caused him to hiss," I knew it. It was different."

The other man jumped at John's unexpected exclamation and peered over at the file. He had read it and hadn't noticed anything that would cause such a reaction.

"She wasn't a natural redhead!" John said to him. In the previous murders the woman had always been a natural redhead. It really wasn't much but it was something.

"So what? Maybe the guy couldn't tell it was a dye job." The other man said, dismissing the find.

John looked up at him and said, "This girl looked like she had money, I bet if she wanted her hair dyed she would go to a salon, not by the over the counter dye and do it herself. The report says that the dye is Herbal Essence. My guess is the killer dyed the hair himself to fit his needs."

"But what does that mean? Why does it matter?"

John frowned thoughtfully, "I'm not sure yet, but its something. Its more than we had before."

**To be continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Attn: I don't own John or Natalie or any other OLTL character. I do own everyone else though.**

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**Chapter 4**

Natalie sat up on the bed with a groan. The past three days had been a haze of confusion, fear, and pain. She looked once again around the tiny room in which she was being held. It only had a small cot with a lumpy mattress for furniture, and only the thinnest of blankets to keep warm with. The walls were bare and filthy with only one window to look out of. It was barred off, of course, so she couldn't escape even if she found a way to bust it with out anyone hearing. The window itself was covered in so much dirt that the light barely made it thru. The ceiling only had a small light hanging from it.

She fought back the urge to cry as she sat there. She didn't know why he was keeping her here, why he was doing this at all. She hated him with every fiber of her being and cursed the day she ever met him. She just wanted him to die! When she had seen him step out of that car she had been shocked. She had believed the man dead and buried up until that moment. Seeing him like that brought it all back. All the pain, the horror, the mind numbing fear had rushed into her, paralyzing her.

The sound of the door opening snapped Natalie out of her thoughts. She grew rigid on the bed as she awaited the entrance of the man she hated more than she had ever hated anyone before. The man that had taken so much from her, the man that had lied to her, played on her weaknesses, on her need for a family.

"Hello Natalie, My dear."

Natalie looked him straight in the eye and replied, "Go fuck your self Carlo."

Carlo Hesser merely grinned at her with that evil little smirk and stepped closer. "Come now, is that anyway to talk to your husband?"

* * *

Rex sat on his ratty couch in his run down apartment drinking scotch straight from the bottle. Lifting the bottle to his lips he drank deeply, not even feeling the burn of the alcohol as it slid down his throat. His mind consumed with memories of Natalie.

_Flashback_

_"Come on Natty," 7 year old Rex whined to his older sister. He held her hand as the walked down the busy Atlantic City street. Always in awe of his older sister Rex looked up at her trustingly as he pleaded for her to give him something to eat._

_Natalie almost cried at the look Rex was giving her. She didn't understand why Roxy never had any food in the house, she didn't understand why Roxy never seemed to have any money either. What she understood was that Rex needed her and she would get him what he needed. At 10 she was already more mature than most 16 year olds and took her responsibilities seriously. Rex was the one person that love her unconditionally, that she loved completely and she wouldn't let him down._

_They were headed to the nearest casino that hosted mostly families. She knew that there she and Rex could sneak some food and the staff wouldn't notice that they weren't guests there. They had been circulating the casinos for a while now doing that and so far no one had caught on._

_"I know Rex. We'll be there soon. Just remember, if anyone asks, our parents are playing poker and told us to go get some lunch." Natalie told him, her big blue eyes conveying her seriousness. She had put on her best cloths and put Rex in his too so that no one would look at them and realize they didn't belong._

_Rex tightened his grip on her hand as they neared the casino and said, "I will. I'll remember. I promise." His stomach rumbled at the thought of food and he fought back the tears that threatened from the hunger pains in his gut. He was so hungry! But he had Natty and she would get them something to eat. She always did._

_Hand-in-hand they snuck into the casino, unnoticed by anyone._

_End Flashback_

Rex smiled at the memory; they hadn't been caught that day and had made a feast of the food they had found there. They had even managed to take enough home with them to last a couple days. She had always provided for him, even when Roxy was on a 5 day bender Natalie managed to take care of his needs. The fact that he had been on vacation having a great time when she needed him the most tore him up inside, threatened to break him.

God he missed her. He couldn't believe no one had even bothered to call him and tell her she was missing! As quickly as he thought that he banished the thought. He hadn't taken his cell phone and he had only given his contact number to Natalie. It wasn't their fault they couldn't get a hold of him.

A part of him believed that it was all a hoax. That Natalie wasn't dead at all, that someone was playing some sort of sick prank on them all. But since Bo had personally identified the body that just wasn't the case. He knew that in his head but making himself feel it was an entirely different matter. In his heart Natalie didn't feel dead. He sobbed again and took another drink, the bottle more than half empty, and his fingers shaking as he held it to his lips.

"Natalie," he mumbled and then downed more of the fiery liquid. "I'm so sorry, sis."

* * *

"You're not my husband," Natalie snarled at Carlo as he continued to smile that twisted little smile at her.

"Ohhh, You wound me to the core!" Carlo said, dramatically putting his hand over his heart and feigning pain. He walked closer to her and brushed her mused red hair out of her face before roughly grabbing the back of her neck and holding her tightly. "You best be careful how you talk to me or I will have to teach you some manners," he threatened in a low voice.

Natalie was angry, scared too, but mostly angry. She tried to pull away and when he wouldn't release her she took a deep breath then spit in his face.

Carlo let her go with a shocked noise before bringing his hand up to wipe the spittle from his face. He looked at the spit on his fingers then at her then backhanded her across the face with a hard blow. "You BITCH!" he swore at her as she tumbled back onto the bed.

Natalie clutched the side of her face with her hand in an effort to reduce the pain but never took her eyes from the furious man. She was terrified of what he might do to her but she wasn't going to cower before him, her pride refused to let him break her like that. She stared back at him defiantly, refusing to cry in front of him.

Carlo was impressed with Natalie's strength. He knew it would take a lot to break her but he would. And once he did he would have her and the entire Buchanan family right where he wanted them. There was a knock at the door and he took one last look at Natalie then left the room. Preparations had to be made and he needed to fully prepare for the next phase of the plan.

* * *

**Outside Natalie's room**

"Is it done?" Carlo asked Griffin, his lackey.

Griffin nodded and replied, "I did like you wanted. I switched Natalie's DNA and Prints in the computer. It was even easier than you said it would be. Tell them dumb cops you are a friend of the Buchanan's and they let you have access to anything!" He smiled a little and then said, "Course the fact that I had a phony badge didn't hurt either." He laughed again. "The dental records were harder to get but I managed to fix them too."

"So they think she is dead?" Carlo asked.

"Yup. First I had to tattoo that dead girl, but with that picture you gave me it was a piece of cake. I can't believe I did the whole thing before someone came to that field. Hell I've never tattooed someone in a forest before."

Carol raised an eyebrow at that statement, "You have tattooed a dead body before though?" he asked with more than a hint of disgust.

Griffin just shrugged and didn't reply.

"Are you ready for the next step?" Carlo asked.

"Yeah," Griffin snickered and then said, "I already started, last night in fact."

Carlo knew what that meant and was pleased. Things were going very well. The plan had been nearly derailed when that stupid serial killer had taken Natalie but since they got that sorted out it was time to continue. Llanview wouldn't know what hit it when he was done with them!

**To be continued...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Attn: I don't own John or Natalie or any other OLTL character. I do own everyone else though.**

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**Chapter 5**

John lay in bed trying to sleep. For the first time in more than a week he had a whole 8 hours to himself and he intended to spend at most, if not all of it catching up on the sleep he had missed. The motel that he was staying at didn't have the most comfortable mattress on the bed but it would do.

More than 4 hours later the shrill ring of his cell phone jerked him out of his restful sleep and into full alertness. Swearing profusely he reached for the phone and flipped it open, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Hello?!" He snapped, his voice still rough with sleep.

"John? Sorry to bother you. This is Bo Buchanan." Bo's voice was tentative, as if he hadn't wanted to call John but didn't know whom else to call.

"Bo? What's the matter? Something wrong?" John wasn't sure why Bo was calling but the mere fact that he was showed that something serious was going on. Despite the guilt John felt about being the one to tell him that his niece Natalie was dead he knew that Bo harbored no resentment so the reason for his hesitation was not clearly understood.

Bo hesitated for another second then said, "We have a murder here that fits the MO of the killer you are chasing. A young woman was killed in the same way that Na... Natalie was killed." He stumbled on the name Natalie.

John cursed under his breath and then said, "I'll be there in 30 minutes." He hung up the phone and then got his things together. There would be no more sleep today.

As he drove to Llanview he was oblivious to the passing scenery. He mind was trying to work out why the killer (He refused to call him the Forest Defiler) would suddenly switch areas. Maybe he thought they were getting too close to finding him. But that didn't make any sense he thought with a shake of his head. It had to be something else. Something he was missing.

On the surface all the murders seemed the same but to John the last 3 had a different feel to him. He couldn't explain it; something in his gut told him something had changed. Sure the last three had been killed the same violent way but the firsts hair had been died. The second one had been a natural redhead but the knife hadn't been left with the body. It had been several feet away and that wasn't normal. The third had been identical to Natalie's murder, right down to the position and placement of the body. They were such small things yet to John it was as if they were screaming at him that something wasn't right. He sighed to himself and then called Bo to get the location of the scene then told him he would meet him there.

He pulled up to the crime scene and immediately noticed another small deviation in the MO. The scene was indeed in a clearing in the woods but it was much closer to the main road than any of the other murders. Filing that thought away he got out and approached Bo, who was standing off to the side while his CSI's collected evidence.

"Who is it?" John asked, not looking at the victim yet.

Bo looked at the younger man and noticed the fatigue around his eyes. The past days hadn't been easy on him and it showed. He then looked at the body a minute before answering. "Her name was Marcy Walsh. She was my assistant."

John then looked at the body and immediately noticed another deviation from the Killers MO. This woman was short and heavyset. Not at all the usual medium height and slim that the killer always killed. John narrowed his eyes but said nothing. He was beginning to suspect that there was a copycat out there and that this was not the work of the same man as the others. "What's her story?"

Bo told John everything he knew about Marcy then frowned and asked, "I don't understand. Why pick women that are close to the police station. I mean, Natalie... she was out best forensic annalist and Marcy she was obviously connected to the police. I don't understand why both were targeted."

John heard the sorrow and confusion in his voice and didn't know what to tell him. It was odd that both women taken from Llanview were connected with the police but it could just be a coincidence. He wasn't sure yet. He needed more information to know if it was all connected. "I don't know," he finally answered then went over to get a closer look at the body.

Bo watched John work. He was confident and competent. Moving with an easy grace that was impossible to fake he moved around Marcy's now lifeless body examining everything he saw, his eyes moving constantly taking in all aspects of the scene. Seeing this Bo was glad that John had agreed to be the new Chief of detectives for the LPD. A man of his skills would definitely be useful.

Bo felt sad though, this was the kind of thing Natalie would have been so great at. He had repeatedly tried to get her out of the lab and into the field but she had always said she didn't have it in her to work the actual scenes. Bo knew she could though, she would have been really good at it giver her observation and logical skills. He felt tears threatening at the thought of Natalie. She would never be around at all thanks to this murdering SOB.

John glanced up at Bo; he seemed to be lost in thought at the moment. He was just staring off into the trees with a pained expression on his face. John knew what he was probably thinking, he was probably thinking of his niece. This would bring those thoughts right to the surface. It had only been a week since she was murdered. He wondered how the Buchanan's were handling the news. He didn't think he could take it as well as they seemed to have. Though he wouldn't stop working, just as Bo had not stopped. He would do everything in his power to make sure the bastard paid for his crime, just as he had done with the White Rose Killer. He had killed his Fiancé 5 years ago and though he had been put on suspension and had also been shot he had tracked down the killer and dragged his ass in to jail.

A part of him had just wanted to kill him on the spot but he hadn't been able to get past his morality enough to execute him. Mores the pity he thought to himself with a slight shake of his head. He shook off his distracting thoughts and went back to work.

* * *

_**Meanwhile back at Carlo's hideout...** _

Natalie watched as Carlo took the report that Griffin handed him and read it. It was an internal FBI report on the last three murders. In it John McBain noted the deviations in the pattern and this enraged Carlo. He surged from his chair swearing at Griffin.

"You idiot!" Carlo screamed at him. "They are going to figure out that the real killer is dead! You need to stop right now. No more killings! Let them stew on it for a while! We cant afford to have it known that the recent killings haven't been the work of the Forest Defiler!"

Natalie was amused when Carlo reached out and backhanded the other man, hard. Having been on the receiving end of that blow several times during her confinement she was happy to see it used on someone other than herself. She still didn't know what Carlo wanted. After he had tricked into marrying him and then had tried to take her inheritance he had expressed an absolute hatred of all things Buchanan but had never said why. He had tried to blackmail her family after that but she had been rescued by Todd of all people. When she asked Vicki, her mother, about it she of course got her answer as to why Carlo hated the Buchanan's.

Knowing what the hatred was about didn't help her understand why she had been kidnapped however. She knew it was to hurt the Buchanan's but if he wanted to do that he just had to kill her and let them find her body and so far he hadn't done that yet. So he must have some other plan up his sleeve. She just had to figure out what it was before he either put his plan into action or decided to kill her outright.

Of course she couldn't do that as long as she was locked in this room with those two. Hopefully they would leave her alone sometime so she could work on getting away and back to her family.

**TBC...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Attn: I don't own John or Natalie or any other OLTL character. I do own everyone else though. **

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**Chapter 6**

It had been days since Carlo had demanded Griffin to stop his murders. That meant that the big brute of a man was around a lot more. His salacious looks at Natalie made her skin crawl. The man lusted after her and didn't try to hide that fact. The only thing that kept him from taking what he wanted was his fear of Carlo, for that Natalie was reluctantly grateful.

She still didn't know why Carlo had taken her but she did know a bit more about what was going on. It seemed that there really HAD been a serial killer, something she had been intimately aware of, and that he was now dead, again something she already knew. But she had thought that the man had been working for Carlo and that wasn't the case. From what she gathered by listening in to their conversations when they thought she was asleep it appeared that Carlo had been following her and had merely stepped in when she had been kidnapped. A stroke of luck for him really and he had taken full advantage of it.

Her heart ached for her family who thought she was dead. She couldn't imagine what they must be feeling. Rex... poor Rex. He was her brother, more so than the Buchanan's really. He must be going out of his mind right now. She had to get out of this mess. She had to! But there was no way out of this dank little room. She had been over the walls multiple times and she couldn't find a week spot. The window was sealed tightly and she couldn't remove the bars, she had tried but to no avail.

So she sat limply on the bed; dejected. She was glad that she hadn't been abused too much. Carlo liked to slap and hit but be never did any serious harm. She knew he was planning something, something big but even after all these days she didn't know what it was. And by now she knew that he wasn't going to reveal his plan until it would do the most damage.

She sighed again and lay back down on the bed. She was so tired... After a few minutes she fell asleep.

* * *

Carlo watched as Natalie drifted into a drugged slumber. It was time to begin his revenge. Years of careful planning and preparation had led to this moment. He took out the syringe and stuck it into a unlabeled vial of clear liquid, pulling the plunger back the syringe filled up and he pulled it out of the vial. Pushing the plunger slightly and tapping on the syringe he expelled any air bubbles that might be in there. With an evil grin he carefully unlocked the door and pushed it open.

As he walked over to Natalie his grin twisted into an expression that unlike any he had ever shown before. Pure satisfaction radiated from him as he pushed the needle into Natalie's arm and pushed down the plunger. She woke slightly and sat up, dazed. The powerful drug already at work in her system.

"Come Natalie. Stand up." Carlo said in a soothing voice.

Natalie stood automatically. Her brain not functioning properly. It was as if her body was awake but her brain still sleeping. She stood there looking at Carlo with out any expression on her face at all. Her eyes were equally blank, devoid of all expression or emotion.

"Follow me." Carlo commanded, again his voice low and soothing.

With out a word she followed him out of the room she had been held in and to the small room he had set up for this exercise. In the room was a metal chair in the middle. That was it. Carlo walked over to it and said, "Sit down here." He pulled out some leather straps and waited for her to sit. Once she did he tied her wrists to the arms of the chair and her ankles to the legs.

After this was done he slipped a pair of cordless earphones onto Natalie's ears and left the room. He stopped outside the door and locked it. Reaching over he slipped a cd in the player and pressed play and hit repeat. Satisfied that all was going according to plan he left the building and got in his car. It was time to check out his old friends... After all couldn't have a party with out the guests of honor.

* * *

John was puzzled, baffled really. The killings had stopped. Not tapered down, not petered out but stopped, cold. This was not the usual MO of a serial killer. Again his gut was telling him something was off. He sat at his desk and looked over his notes on the murders, trying to find what he had previously missed.

There was a knock at the door and Bo stuck his head in. "You busy?" Bo asked him and he shook his head no. Bo came in and sat down across from him.

Bo looked at John and saw the other man was troubled. "Need some help?" he offered. John had decided to move to Llanview early because the last 2 murders were centered in Llanview and had already began taking over some of the duties of Chief of Detectives. It wasn't uncommon for John to bounce ideas or theories off Bo, for he had done it several times in the last few days. Bo thought it was more to hear it out loud, to talk it thru then any real help he could offer the younger man.

John looked at Bo distractedly and began speaking, "it doesn't add up. When a killer stops killing its usually because their objective had been completed. This guy he was actually pretty random, it was as if he didn't have a specific target in mind, just a specific type. It makes no sense. With that type of kill its not likely they will ever accomplish their goal, if they have one." John looked at the board on his wall with all the victims on it not saying anything for a moment. His brain trying to work out the problem.

After a moment he started again, "Its almost as if the killer gained some sort of mission or cause in the middle of his spree." He shook his head, that theory not sitting well, " no, its feels like there is TWO killers. The ones before Natalie, they had a different feel. A clear rage, intent. The ones after... they look almost perfunctory. As if they were an after thought or not important. Not the same at all."

"So you think there are two killers?" Bo asked.

"Yeah, there has to be. Nothing else makes sense."

Bo also got up and studied the board before asking, "If the first 4 were done by one guy and the last three by someone else, Which one killed Natalie? And what happened to the first guy?"

John paced back and forth as he worked it out in his head. "I think that Natalie was done by the first or at least partially. I think the second guy came in at that point and took over." He voiced his thoughts unemotionally yet with care. He knew this case was hard on Bo because his niece AND his assistant had been victims.

Bo was filled with confusion and rage but held it in check. He had to be objective no matter how much this ate at him. For Natalie's sake and for Marcy's; it was the only way he could get them justice. That's what Natalie would have wanted.

Continuing on his train of thought, "In fact the last three murders strike me as staged." He paused then said, "I think who ever did it was trying to hide something, to cover it up. In fact I would almost stake my life that the fist guy is dead!" The idea come to him out of nothing yet it felt true. In his gut it felt like the absolute truth. "We need to track down any John Does in at least a 50 Mile radius!"

As John grabbed up the phone to start making calls Bo said, "Whoa! Whoa! How can you be sure? That's a huge leap don't you think?"

John shook his head and said, "I just know. I can feel it. We are on to something here! Trust me. I'm right about this."

Bo didn't understand but he did trust John. He was the best in the business when it came to tracking killers and now wasn't the time to be second guessing him. "Fine. I'll have the men start making calls. What are we looking for?"

John frowned, he really didn't know what it was that he was looking for yet he knew this was the key. He thought a minute before saying, "John Doe's or unclaimed males ranging from 35-50 years of age. White, death by violent means. I know that will give us a lot of possibilities but it's the best we can do for now."

Bo nodded and went to inform the troops.

**TBC...**


	7. Chapter 7 Rated PG 13

**Attn: I don't own them. You know this but I have to write it any way. Don't want those greedy bastards at ABC taking offense cause I write a better story than them and having them sue me for copyright infringement or some shit. **

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This chapter is rated R for excessive swearing. If you find it offensive don't read the end of the chapter. **

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**Chapter 7**

Natalie blinked her eyes and looked around in confusion. She was lying on the floor of her little cell Carlo had the balls to call a room. She couldn't remember how she had gotten there though. Her brain was fuzzy, as if awakening from a long deep sleep. She groaned as she sat up; her head hurt as well.

Maybe she fell off the bed she thought to herself as she stood unsteadily. She walked to the door and looked out the crack in it, trying to see if there was anyone around. She squinted and strained to see but saw no one. Carlo must be out or something. Griffin too...

Her head still hurting and her mind still groggy she looked around the room again for something to break down the door. She probably wouldn't get a better chance to escape. Finding nothing that would be strong enough she slumped onto the bed in defeat. The pain and fuzziness in her head had lessened as she moved around and she was grateful for that if nothing else. She rested her head on the headboard of the bed and prayed someone would realize she was alive and in need of rescuing.

Suddenly she sat up and muttered, "headboard!!!!" She jumped off the bed and tore off the mattress from the bed mumbling "I'm so stupid!"

* * *

John sat at his desk going thru the pictures of the John Doe's his team had managed to get on such short notice. Though they only went back 2 weeks there were still quite a few of them. He had had no idea this many unidentified males were found in the area! There had to be at least 50 of them! He had gotten thru the about half and so far he hadn't found the one he was looking for.

He didn't know how he would know if he found the right one but he felt that if he found it he would just 'know'. It was a skill he had used many times with the FBI and on this last case it seemed fitting that he trust it now as well. Officially he was still FBI until he found the killer even if he was working out of the LPD and had his own office.

Suddenly he came to a picture that made him stop and look closer. He read the name and description.

Name: John Doe

DOB: Unknown Approximately 30-35 years of age

Height: 5'11

Weight: 185 pounds

Eye Color: Blue

Tattoos piercings or other markings: Small Birth mark on right thigh in a circular shape approximately 1cm in diameter. No other markings

Cause of Death: Multiple Gun Shot Wounds

The victim was found on an abandoned road out side of Carbondale by a jogger (Name: Jason Roe). Victim was face down lying in the middle of the road. Positive ID was not able to be made. Dead for at least 36 hours before the body was found. Autopsy report attached.

John read the report closely and knew he needed to find out more about this man. He called a buddy and asked him to run the finger prints thru the FBI database and see what he could find. If he was a betting man, and he was, he would bet that this man had a record of some kind.

* * *

Carlo watched Llanfair from the top of a hill over looking the mansion. His binoculars perched on his face as he studied the Buchanan's. They were holding a funeral for their beloved Natalie. He laughed at that. How surprised they would be if they knew that they had buried a hooker in place of one of their own. Or rather his own. She was still his wife after all.

He smiled even wider as he remembered how he had tricked the luscious redhead into marrying him. She had been so gullible. All he had had to do was play the victim. He had staged a mugging when he knew she would be waking by and let her comfort him and help him to the hospital. After that he had simply started hanging around places he knew she would be and had struck up a friendship. When he had her trust he had convinced her that he was in trouble with the mob and that he was afraid for his life. He had told her that if they married he could pay them off and because of her family connections he would be safe. She had bought it, hook, line and sinker!

The one thing he hadn't counted on was her putting her entire trust find into a trust for her children. And if she had no children it would go to Rex. Even in the event of her death her money wouldn't go to him! He had been son angry when she had told him that. He had been planning on her having a little 'accident' and gaining her funds. That would have been the ultimate revenge. Using the Buchanan's money to destroy them.

His reaction to that news had been... rather violent to say the least. He had about beat her to death for ruining his well laid out plans but if there was anything Natalie was she was a survivor. She had grabbed a knife and sliced him but good. He had nearly bled to death after she had taken off. If he hadn't had a guy in the hospital that he had called in a panic to patch him up and help him fake his death he wouldn't be sitting here planning his revenge yet again. This time things would be different. Nothing was going to be left to chance. He would have his revenge.

* * *

Natalie looked at the bed frame and nearly screamed with joy. The frame came apart! Quickly she grabbed the metal sidepiece and yanked it up. It slid from its spot on the wooden headboard and clanged on to the floor. Going to the footboard she did the same and the metal rail was free. She picked it up awkwardly and held it as if it were a bettering ram. She moved to the door and started using it to beat at the door. It took a few minutes but the door flew open with a crash.

Natalie gasped at the noise but put the rail down and moved cautiously out the door. Her eyes darted around the room looking of her captors. When she didn't see them she headed for the door. Her heart beat furiously with the fear that she would be caught any second but she continued. She opened the door and saw that she was in the woods somewhere. There was a dirt road going by the little shack she had been held in.

She could hear no traffic, which was definitely a plus. She had to get away but she didn't know which way to go. Thru the woods or follow the road. The woods seemed the obvious choice. Carlo could come back at any moment and if she followed the road he would definitely spot her right off. If she went thru the woods she would have cover and it would be harder for Carlo to find her.

But that was exactly what he would expect her to do. He would think she took off thru the woods so maybe she should do the opposite and follow the road. She could hear the traffic coming and could hide before someone saw her.

The decision was made. She took off running toward the tree line next to the road and once she was just inside the tree line she began walking down the road, hoping to hell she was going the right way and that she got far enough away before Carlo found her.

* * *

_**9 and ½ hours later**_

Carlo came back to the shack still planning his revenge. Griffin next to him in the car. They had spent the day preparing for the next 'session' with Natalie and watching the Buchanan's. The 'sessions" with their little captive were progressing and they needed to step up the 'treatment'. Even after the first few 'sessions' her mind continued to resist the 'suggestions' they were giving her and he wasn't sure just how much she was getting from them. Simple drug/auditory therapy wasn't working as well has he had hoped. It was time to use more aggressive means to gain her cooperation.

As they came into the shack Carlo immediately noticed that the door to her 'room' was open. He swore violently and raced into the room!

"FUCK!!!!! God damn it! Son of a Bitch!!!!" He was furious when he saw the bed frame. He whipped around to Griffin who had followed him into the room.

"What the fuck were you thinking??!! I told you not to put anything in this room that could be taken apart! Jesus! I TOLD you she was resourceful! You stupid mother fucker! Do you know what you have done?"

Griffin was taken aback by his boss's rage. Normally Carlo was cool, controlled and talked with a cold dignity that was frightening. To see him completely lose control of himself and actually use such crude language was shocking and damn scary. He fumbled with an apology.

I...I'm...I'm sorry. It was a bed. I didn't think... It was just a bed..." he stammered and started to unconsciously back up.

Getting himself back under control Carlo lowered his voice, though the rage still burned in him. "You are a simpleton." He reached behind him and took hold of the gun he was carrying, "and you have been a thorn in my side for way too long!" So saying he aimed the gun at Griffin and shot him dead.

Stepping over the bleeding body of Griffin he exited the shack and looked around. Where would she go? "Here Natalie..." he murmured to himself. He looked into the dense forest and smiled. He grabbed another gun and a flashlight and started off thru the woods thinking that Natalie would be a sitting duck out in the woods all alone. He would find her, bring her back, and teach her a lesson she wouldn't soon forget...

**TBC...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Attn: Don't own them. I would love to own them but alas I can't afford them. **

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**Chapter 8**

John informed Bo of his lead and headed out to take a look at the body. He had started running the victim's face and prints thru the FBI databases hoping he could come up with a match. His gut told him that this was his man.

The ride to the Carbondale morgue was uneventful and he made it there in good time. Once he was looking at the body he took a moment to study it for himself. Dirty was his first thought. The ME had washed the body but there were signs that told him John Doe didn't bathe often. His hair was long and messy, face too thin, body gaunt but had some muscle.

As the ME finished his report John's cell phone rang. Picking it up he listened as Bo told him that there had been a match on the prints from CODIS (A data base the FBI used to identify repeat offenders.) He now had a name and address on this former John Doe.

"All right Kevin Johnson lets go see what you got killed over." John muttered to himself after he hung up the phone. He gave the ME Kevin's name and age so it would be correct on the death certificate then headed out to Kevin's home address.

When he got there he was unsurprised to find it was in a slum area and that was putting it nicely. The houses on the street, if you could call them that, they were really more like shacks, old, dilapidated and falling down. Graffiti was sprayed everywhere and a group of teenagers loitered nearby blaring what some called music but John found nothing musical in the screaming vocals and hammering drums.

He walked up to the front door, knocked, and called out FBI. Getting no answer, as he expected, he proceeded to enter the building. The stench hit him first making his eyes water. Piles of garbage lay everywhere making walking thru very difficult. To say it was in need of a good cleaning was a serious understatement. Then, with a small smile, he thought, 'a better idea would be to burn the entire place down.'

Finding no one there John gave the place a once over and hit pay dirt. Sitting on the shelf inside the bedroom closet was assortment of women's shoes! Putting on gloves he took down one shoe and examined it. It was the same size and color as the first victim had been wearing the last time she was seen alive. Calling it in he ordered CSI to go over the place with a fine-tooth comb.

He stayed until the CSI unit got there then called his boss. After talking with his boss, now former boss actually, John decided to head back to Llanview. He still had work to do. No matter what the FBI thought John knew that there was more to this case. His superiors wouldn't hear of the idea that there were too men and not one so he decided if the FBI wouldn't work that angle then he would work it on his own, unless he could convince Bo of his theory.

Bo was his boss now because as far as the FBI was concerned the case was closed. He had found the killer end of story. Finding out who had killed the killer wasn't his job. At least that's what they said, he felt differently.

Suddenly someone stumbled out into the road and John slammed on the breaks. Screeching to a shuddering halt he jumped out and ran to the figure. The person was staggering and stumbling and either they were very drunk or in needed help. As he got closer he saw that it was a woman, filthy and ragged but definitely a woman. He rushed to her side to offer assistance then not so surprisingly she slid into a dead faint just in time for him to catch her.

He immediately checked her pulse and breathing to make sure she was alive. When he felt the steady beat of her heart he was relieved. Satisfied that she was indeed alive he took a moment to check for any other obvious injuries. Again relieved, he found that she had no broken bones. He was about to call for an ambulance then decided that it would be quicker to take her himself. He looked down and saw her bare feet were raw and bleeding. She must have walked a long ways for that to happen. He finally looked up at her face. Brushing away the dirty hair John got a good look at his damsel in distress, and gasped in disbelief. He knew that face, had stared at it on his murder board for hours on end.

"Natalie Buchanan?!"

"What the fuck is going on here!" he thought to himself as lifted her unconscious body and put her in his car and headed for the hospital.

* * *

Natalie woke up in the dark and immediately was frightened. She started to sit up then noticed that it wasn't completely dark in the room. There was a soft light coming into the open door from the hallway. She looked around and realized that she was in a hospital. She sighed in relief, someone must have found her and brought her here.

Feeling safe for the moment she looked around more closely and realized that she recognized the hospital she was in, she was at the Llanview hospital. Not sure whether to be relieved or frightened by the fact she looked out the window and was startled to see a strange man sleeping in the chair next to her bed. She tensed and was about to start screaming when he woke suddenly and looked directly into her eyes.

For no reason that she could fathom the scream that had been building died in the back of her throat. Instead she simply stared into his eyes. The man was simply gorgeous, what she could see in the dim light. His hair was dark and shaggy yet not unkempt. His face was ruggedly handsome but shadowed with one or two days stubble. But it was those eyes that held her motionless. They were beautiful, blue, she could tell because they were such an intense blue not even the relative darkness could hide them.

"So you're Natalie?" Though it was a question it was clear he knew who she was, yet she didn't feel threatened by that fact. In fact it was almost as if he was happy to see her.

"You were looking for me?" Her tone was flirtatious and Natalie was shocked with herself. 'Jesus!' she thought to herself, 'I just wake up in the hospital after being held hostage by TWO madmen, and I am flirting with the first good looking man I see!!'

John blinked in surprise then grinned, she was a gem! He liked her already. But he couldn't lie to her, frowning, "Actually everyone thought you were dead. I only found you when you passed out in front of my car." He fell silent trying to decide is now was the time to ask where she had been or if he should wait till later.

Natalie immediately frowned as well, reminded of what had happened to her. "My family?"

John knew what she was asking and said, "They've been here for days, I finally convinced them to go home and get some sleep then come back in the morning."

"Days? How long was I out?" She was shocked and slightly panicked. Carlo would have found her by now! He would come back and get her.

"You've been here of almost a week Natalie." John saw her panic and asked, "Who did this to you? What happened?"

Natalie broke down then and tears started to roll down her face. "Carlo Hesser, my husband," she choked out and sobbed into her hands.

John couldn't stand to see her crying and sat next to her on the bed. He hesitantly put his hand on her shoulder and she turned into him and sobbed into his chest. He rubbed her back soothingly until the sobs subsided then pushed her back slightly. Looking into her face he caught his breath. She was beautiful! Her nose was running and her eyes red but that only added to her beauty. He gently pushed her hair away from her face and softly said, "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Natalie nodded and began at the beginning from the first kidnapping to breaking down the door and running away.

"I was walking. It seemed like I walked forever. The road just kept going on and on until I thought I would die before anyone found me." It was said in a sad, tired voice. "I don't remember stepping into the road. I was trying to stay out of sight in case he came down the road looking for me."

John held her tightly as he said, "If you hadn't you might never have been found. That area has hardly any traffic at all. The only reason I was on it is because I was taking the long way back. It's mostly state forest there."

"Thanks for finding me." Natalie said it softly but she meant every word. He had literally saved her life and she would be forever in his debt. "You saved my life."

Seeing she was calmed down John moved away from her and back to the chair, "You're welcome."

"What does Carlo have against your family?" No one had really explained that to him. 

**To be continued...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Attn: Don't own them. I would love to own them but alas I can't afford them. **

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**Chapter 9**

Rex hurried to the hospital in the morning. Natalie was awake!

When John McBain had informed them all that not only had their dreams come true but that he had her with him and was bringing her to the hospital Rex hadn't known whether to be happy or worried. He settled on both as when he saw the state Natalie was in. She looked exhausted and beat to hell. Her feet had been covered in blisters and her body in bruises. Never had he been happier to see her face.

Michael McBain, her doctor, had kept her pretty much sedated to allow her body to heal so she hadn't talked to anyone since John McBain literally picked her up from the side of the road. It was a miracle that he had found her and one for which he would be forever grateful.

Rex stopped outside Natalie's door and showed the standing guard his ID. Bo's idea. He feared that Natalie for Natalie's safety since it was painfully obvious from the condition that John found her that she had been held against her will. That done he entered and immediately smiled. Natalie was awake and reading a magazine or something.

"Natty!" he rushed to hug her. Wrapping his arms around her slim body he squeezed her hard. "I missed you so much!"

"Rex!" Natalie cried happily. She had feared she would never see him again. She returned his hug until finally she had to say, "Uhh Rex. Need air to breath."

Rex laughed and stepped back. "Sorry." He sat down next to her on the bed and just stared at her face. It certainly looked better than before. "Do you have any idea how lost I was without you, sis?"

Natalie smiled anew at the endearment. Something he only said when he was really emotional. "You have no idea how much I missed you little bro."

"What happened to you?" His tone gentle and loving.

Natalie squeezed her eyes shut trying to block out all the horror then looked at Rex and said softly, "It was Carlo, Rex. He isn't dead."

Rex froze for half a heartbeat then said, "Jesus." He pulled Natalie into another hug as he thought of the man that had hurt his sister more than anyone. He still couldn't believe she had once been married to that man. Still was in fact. After Todd had saved Natalie from Carlo and he had appeared to be dead they thought she was free of the evil man. Obviously they had been wrong. So very wrong.

For a long time neither of them spoke then Natalie told Rex everything. Softly, haltingly she went thru everything she could remember until there was nothing left to say. "He'll look for me you know. Whatever he has planned, he isn't gonna stop this time. Not until he is finished."

Rex knew she was right and it scared him. If Carlo could get her once, he could get her again.

* * *

John came back to Natalie's room to find Rex in talking with her. He didn't want to interrupt so he went to the nurse's station to see if he could find his brother. He was supposed to be working this shift. After finding Natalie he felt an intense need to protect her so he had appointed himself her personal bodyguard. He wasn't even sure why he felt so strongly about her. Maybe it was because after her "death" he had gone thru every piece of her life, had stared at her face every day; he felt as if he knew her.

He had felt something last night when he had held her in his arms, comforting her. Something he couldn't define and definitely something he didn't want. Emotional attachments were something he usually avoided at all costs but just looking at Natalie he felt a pull that he never felt before. And to top it all off she was not only married but married to a psycho who not only kidnapped her but wanted to take down her whole family. _Figures_ he snorted to himself.

John asked the nurse if Michael was around and found out he was doing his rounds. Turning around he stopped short when he saw that Asa Buchanan was standing there. The older man had been out of the country when Natalie he had found Natalie but apparently he was back.

Asa stood in front of the man that saved his granddaughters life and held out a hand. "Thank you. You saved my granddaughter and I can't thank you enough. Anything you want, its yours."

John was uncomfortable with the offer but took Asa's hand. "That's not necessary. I was just doing my job."

Asa sized John up then let go of his hand. "You know, I don't like cops. Well except my son of course. I generally have no use for them." He paused a moment then went on, "I'm not sure whether I like you or not yet but I sure as hell am grateful to you."

John stood there not sure what to think. Finally he said, "Uh, ok. I need to get back now."

Asa nodded, "I meant what I said, anything you want. It's yours."

John just nodded and went back to Natalie's room to see if she and Rex were done yet. Seeing that they weren't he waited outside the door and talked with Officer Jenkins, the guard.

* * *

Carlo dealt with the news that Natalie had been found badly as first then calmed down enough to think. After tearing apart his hideout he began to form a new plan. First he needed to know if the treatments had been successful and if so just how successful they had been. For that he would have to wait, lay low until he knew one way or the other. If the treatments worked he needn't do anything but watch but if they didn't then he would have to do things the hard way. Starting with killing that trouble-making wife of his.

* * *

"But uncle Bo! That's ridiculous! I want to come back to work!" Natalie paced Bo's office in agitation. She had been out of the hospital for over a week and there was no sign of Carlo. She knew he was out there, waiting, but she didn't want to stop living her life until he was found.

"I mean it Natalie. One more week! You just got out of the hospital. Take some time off. You need to recover from what happened." He loved his niece but sometimes she just took on too much. " Natalie you know I love you but I am not letting you back to work until your doctor signs off on it." Bo stared her down and when she sighed and sat down in the seat across from him he knew he had won.

"I'm fine," she muttered.

He could see she really wasn't fine. She was scared out of her mind but trying to hide it. She was also angry and determined to get back to her life. "I know," he lied, "why don't you do to Rodi's and play some pool." He suggested pool because he knew that it calmed her down and usually made her feel better.

Natalie sighed in defeat. She knew Bo wasn't going to change his mind. "Nah Jess wanted to talk to me. I guess I'll head over to Llanfair and see what she wanted." Jess had come back from London for a short trip, ironically enough for Natalie's funeral. Now she was extending that trip to reconnect with her family. There was something different about her though. Something sadder more lonely than before she had left. Natalie suspected it had something to do with a man she had been seeing.

Bo smiled. It seemed like the whole family was coming back together due to Natalie's ordeal. Getting up with Natalie he hugged her goodbye and watched her leave, the bodyguard he had assigned to protect Natalie trailing behind. Satisfied that Natalie was protected against Carlo, at least for the moment, he went back to the paperwork he had been working on before Natalie had come in.

As Natalie left Bo's office she bumped into John. He stayed with her almost the entire time she had been in the hospital. After she had gotten out he went back to work but had promised to be there if she needed anything. For some reason she felt comfortable around him even though they had just met. Maybe it was because he had saved her or it could be something else, she wasn't sure. Smiling, "Hey John!"

John looked up at the person who he had just bumped into and smiled widely. "Back to work already?"

"No. The boss won't let me back yet." She said it with a smile but John could tell she was down about it.

"Hey, chin up, you'll be back to work soon," he said jokingly. Then more seriously, "Listen, you been thru a lot, you know. Its good to take some time and get your life back in order before you jump back into work."

Natalie smiled a bit at that, "That's kinda what Uncle Bo just told me."

"Well Bo's a smart man. He cares about you a lot. He just wants you to be ok."

Natalie suddenly had the urge to hug him but instead, "I know." She sighed then looked up and gave him a huge smile, "Hey, I'm going to Rodi's tonight. Want to stop by and shoot a game of pool with me?"

John was pleased that she asked. It almost seemed like a date though. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He was attracted to her, no doubt about that, but she was the type of woman that looked for commitment. He was unsure until he looked into her eyes. 'What the hell?' he thought, "Sure I got to eat somewhere," he said with a slight laugh.

**To be continued...**


	10. Chapter 10

**Attn: I don't own the One Life to Live Characters. Though from the looks of the show no one seems to even know who they are anyway so it wouldn't matter if I did. I am getting no profit from the writing and distribution of this story other then the happy I get when people read my story and tell me so. (So all you readers keep that up!! LOL)**

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**Chapter 10**

Natalie sipped her beer and fiddled with her napkin as she waited for John to show up. Her ever present bodyguard sat two seats down from her trying to look inconspicuous but wasn't managing it too well. She tried not to think about the reason she had a bodyguard at all because she didn't want to remember what had happened. After she gave her statement to Bo she wanted to forget it ever happened and move on with her life but she knew that was impossible. Carlo Hesser was not a man that gave up easily and especially not when it came to the Buchanan's.

She checked her watch and noted that she had only been there for ten minutes and already she was thinking about what she had promised she would not think about. Sighing she got up and left the bar, bringing her half empty beer she drifted over to the pool table. Setting down the beer on the side of the table she racked up the balls then picked up a cue.

The break was bad and no balls went in irritating Natalie. She grunted then set up for bank shot. Again she missed.

"Hey. I thought you were good." Coming in as she broke John immediately made his way to the pool table. He saw both missed shots and her annoyance at not making them. He studied her stance, noting in the back of his mind that she looked damn good bent over that table.

"Bad day I guess," she leaned over and took another shot this time making it.

John couldn't help it; he came up behind her and put his hands over hers on the cue. "Your stance is a little off. Here let me show you." When she bent over he went with her adjusting her body with firm but gentle hands. "Like this," he rasped in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

Natalie stiffened for a second when he touched her then relaxed into his hold. Heat coursed thru her body stunning her with its intensity. She wasn't used to having such a strong reaction to such a simple touch. "Like this?" she repeated even as she adjusted her body, bringing it into contact more firmly with his, her butt pressed snugly against him.

John bit back a groan at the contact and moved back a bit. He hadn't intended to get so close, to go so far. He really didn't know Natalie that well but he did know that she wasn't one to be sexually promiscuous not matter how attracted she might be to him. Not that he wasn't attracted to her, he was, a lot. But after all she had been thru recently now was definitely not the time for this. He needed to be her friend, not the guy trying to get in her pants.

Natalie was a little disappointed when he pulled back but swallowed it and took the shot. She made it and turned to face him, trying to forget the momentary attraction that had flared up between them. Obviously he didn't want to get involved with her, not that she could blame him. She was technically married after all and then there was the whole getting kidnapped all the time factor.

She stood straight and adjusted her shirt, "You ready to eat yet?"

He grinned when his stomach rumbled, "Yeah." He took her cue and put it away then followed her to a table. After giving his order to the waitress he asked, "You come here a lot?" 

"Yeah, I used to work here. Mac, the owner, he's is great." She gave her order and then sat back. "How was your day?" she asked casually.

"Busy," He answered in a low voice. He asked about her day and soon they lost track of time as they talked about their lives. He found out a lot about her that wasn't in her file, but most of all he found that they had a lot in common. Both had grown up in Atlantic City, both loved Cheese Steak and just hanging out with a beer and playing pool. Even after spending almost all his free time at the hospital with her the week before he hadn't realized just how much there was to know about her. Even the smallest things fascinated him.

Natalie was also fascinated by John. He was such a puzzle to her. There was a sadness about him that lurked just beneath the surface. It drew her in, made her want to give him a hug like he had done so many times when she had been in the hospital. They hadn't really talked much while she had been recovering from her ordeal with Carlo but he had made her feel safe, like nothing could happen to her while he was around. It was a nice feeling.

She absently glanced at her watch and was stunned at how late it had gotten. "Oh my God. It's after 11. I have to get home. I was supposed to meet Jessica at 10:30. She came back from London to visit me!"

John too was surprised by the time. He went to the bar and paid the bill while Natalie gathered her things together. When he got back to the table he said, "I'll walk you to your car. Its not safe to be out alone this late."

Natalie just rolled her eyes and made a comment about protective men. But secretly she was relieved not to have to go out in the darkness alone. After all that happened she was a little afraid of the dark. She leaned into him when he took her bag and walked with her towards the door.

Suddenly Natalie felt something dig into her back and her arm was roughly grabbed, pulling her to a dead holt.

"Nobody move!" The speaker was a rather rough looking man clad in ratty jeans and a dirty pullover sweatshirt. His eyes were darting all over nervously as he pulled Natalie back against his chest and pressed the barrel of his gun to her neck.

John assessed the situation but did nothing. Any sudden moves might cost Natalie her life. Instead he tried to talk to the man. "Look we don't want no trouble. Anything you want, you got it, just don't hurt the girl."

The man looked at John, his eyes focusing on him. "I know you. You're that famous FBI guy that put away that serial killer killing those college girls."

John blinked at that. This man knew about that case? It must have been 10 years ago, one of his first as an agent. "Yeah that's me. Just let the girl go and we'll forget this whole thing."

Natalie followed the conversation but stayed perfectly still. She noticed John carefully studying the man and knew he was looking for an opening to take him down. When he met her eyes she could tell he was terrified that she would be hurt. She looked away from him and down at the gun that was pressing into her neck. She recognized the make, expensive piece for a scruffy robber. It was then she noticed it.

The safety.

It was ON!

She quickly looked back up, not wanting him to notice her looking at the gun. Glancing around quickly she took in the scene, John, her bodyguard, and everyone else was frozen in fear. She knew they couldn't see that the safety was on and that the gun was useless so they wouldn't make a move, it was up to her to disarm the man.

Quickly, like she learned in self-defense training she grabbed the guys wrist and twisted it back, forcing him to loosen his hold. Ignoring John's panicked yell she stomped on the guys foot twisted under is gun arm, the guy dropped the gun and tried to grab her again.

Anticipating this Natalie spun quickly and clocked him with a right to the jaw, knocking the man down. John was on him in an instant and had him cuffed in two seconds flat.

After reading the dirtbag his rights John rounded on Natalie, "What the hell were you thinking? He could have shot you!"

Natalie shrugged, still on an adrenaline high, "I saw the safety on the gun, it was on. I knew he couldn't shoot me."

John just scowled at her, "What if he had switched it on? What if he had a knife? Jeeze Natalie..." He trailed off and pulled her into his arms. "I can't stand the thought of you being hurt," he breathed into her hair. His emotions were in chaos but there was one thing he was sure of and that was Natalie was important to him. How that had happened in such a short period of time he didn't know but it was there, that need to protect her from all harm.

Natalie was starting to come down off her high and started to tremble in delayed fear. Reaction set in and suddenly she started sobbing, "Why do things like these happen to me. God, I'm cursed."

John held her till she stopped crying then pulled back. Using his thumbs to wipe her tears away he looked into her eyes, "You're not cursed. It's gonna be ok. Come on I'll take you home."

Natalie nodded whispering, "Thanks," to him.

John spoke to the uniform that had come to transport the robber and then ushered Natalie to his car to take her home.

**To be continued...**


	11. Chapter 11

**Attn: I don't own the One Life to Live Characters. Though from the looks of the show no one seems to even know who they are anyway so it wouldn't matter if I did. I am getting no profit from the writing and distribution of this story other then the happy I get when people read my story and tell me so. (So all you readers keep that up!! LOL)**

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**Chapter 11**

John pulled up to Llanfair and noticed that the lights were all off. They must be in bed, though it was early.

Natalie was quiet when she got out of the car she too noticed that the house was totally dark. With John at her side she went up to the door and started to unlock it. As she swung the door open she noticed that there was a note on the table just inside the door. "How odd," she murmured to herself.

John heard her and instantly went on alert. "What? Something wrong?" he asked while he scanned the area for intruders.

Natalie shook her head and picked up the note. Opening it up she read it and then sighed. "They aren't here. Something happened to Antonio and they went to support Jessica. She and Antonio are really close. Heck they would probably have gotten married if Jess hadn't moved to London.

John nodded and relaxed now that he was sure there was no threat. He studied the interior of Llanfair as Natalie put down the note. It was big and formal, too formal for his taste though. The walls had a floral design on it that just screamed money as did the expensive furniture and accessories, but the place itself felt empty, almost oppressive even. He didn't like the idea of Natalie staying here alone though and he told her so.

She nodded in agreement. She felt a little better but she didn't want to be alone either. She opened her mouth to speak but John beat her too it.

"Why don't I stay until someone comes home?"

Natalie sighed in relief. "I'd appreciate it. I know its silly but I feel a lot better knowing you're gonna be here."

John smiled at her and said, "Ok lets get you to be. It's been a long day for you."

Natalie made no protest when he ushered her up the stairs, pausing only to ask which room was hers. Once in her room Natalie suddenly felt nervous. After all this _was_ her bedroom and she really _didn't_ know John that well. But the moment passed quickly and she said, "I'll go change." She went into the bathroom and changed into her pajamas. Coming back out she saw John seated on her window seat that was across from the bed.

He felt a little awkward to be in Natalie's bedroom but he didn't want to leave her here all alone. Pushing the feeling aside he looked up as she came out of the bathroom. She looked adorable, her PJ's had little kitties on them, and her gorgeous red hair was put up in a loose ponytail. All in all she looked much younger the 24 years she actually was. He smiled at her to reassure her, "I'll sit here while you sleep till your family comes back."

Natalie nodded getting into bed. She clicked off the light but could still see John by the moonlight. He was staring out at the darkness before him so she could only see his profile. He seemed to be frowning a little. She sighed to herself as she realized how weird this situation was. Here she was in bed with an incredibly good looking man in her room and they weren't doing anything. With another sigh she closed her eyes to try to get some sleep. After about 10 minutes she finally slipped into slumber.

John turned from the window and looked at the sleeping woman in the bed. She was snoring slightly and he grinned a little. She looked so peaceful while she slept. When she was awake Natalie always had this energy about her, like she was about to bolt into action at any minute. But now she was still, her face relaxed and calm. He felt something in him shift at the sight.

More than an hour later Natalie sat up in bed screaming. John rushed over to her and took her shoulders in his hands. "Natalie! Its OK its Ok, You're safe." She stopped screaming then and looked at him.

"John?" she said then started crying. She clung to him burring her face into his chest as she sobbed. "Oh God it was so awful. I was dreaming that guy shot you. It was horrible. There was blood everywhere. Then Carlo there and he kept saying he was going to kill me. God! It was..." she started sobbing again.

John held her close to him as she cried. His heart clenched at the sight of this strong woman breaking down in front of him. After a while Natalie calmed down enough that he pulled back and brushed the hair out of her face. Her eyes were swollen and her face red but she was still beautiful. He didn't think there was ever a time when he would think that. "Ok now?" he asked softly.

Natalie nodded and laid back down. When John stared to get up she grabbed his hand, holding him at her side. "Stay with me?"

He immediately knew what she was asking, "You sure?"

She nodded just needing someone to hold her, needing the comfort, that feeling of safety that she got when John held her.

At her nod John kicked off his shoes and shed his top shirt, leaving him in just his slacks and wife-beater. He lay down beside her and pulled her close, her back to his chest with his arm around her stomach. "Go to sleep," he whispered to her softly.

Feeling much better with his strong arms surrounding her Natalie relaxed and closed her eyes. It wasn't long before she was lulled into a peaceful sleep listening to John's steady breathing.

* * *

Carlo sat in his car watching Llanfair. 'It looks like my precious wife has got her self a boy toy' he thought to himself. He wasn't angry about it at all. In fact the idea pleased him immensely. He had been planning to pay his little woman a visit this evening, had in fact created the very problem that took the rest of the residents out of the house. But this might be better.

Now that he knew that John McBain was important to Natalie he had a weapon against her. If things didn't go as he planned he could use McBain to _convince_ her to see things his way.

He raised his binoculars and looked into Natalie's window. Seeing the couple sleeping in each other's arms he smiled again and continued to watch them, planning his next move.

* * *

Bo stood outside of Antonio's hospital room talking to Rex. It was late, after ten, when he got the call that Antonio had been found beaten in angle square. Jessica was in with him now, Vicki talking to Cris and Carlotta. He sighed, after what happened at Rodi's he had hoped someone would have stayed home with Natalie. He was glad though that she wasn't totally alone. According to Natalie's bodyguard John McBain had decided to stay with her after finding the house empty.

It seemed to him that John and his niece seemed to have somewhat of a fondness for each other and he couldn't be happier. John was a fine man and a good cop and, well, Natalie was a great woman, a strong woman. The two would definitely suit.

"Do you know who did this?" Rex asked, not aware of what happened to Natalie at Rodi's.

"No," Bo confided. He debated on whether to fill Rex in about the incident with Natalie yet b ultimately decided he needed to know. "Look Rex there is something you need to know."

Rex was instantly on alert, Bo's tone was cautious and his face serious. "What?"

"There was an attempted robbery at Rodi's earlier tonight. Natalie was there." Bo informed the younger man.

"Is she ok? Did he hurt her? Why didn't you tell me before now??" Rex questioned, incredulous that Bo would not tell him something like that.

"She is fine. John McBain is with her at Llanfair." He paused and sighed, "I didn't tell you before because it was so crazy here with what happened to Antonio and then John decided to say with her..." Bo flushed slightly then went on, " Ok I also thought maybe the two of them would like some privacy."

Rex blinked a minute, shocked and stunned. Then as Bo's last words sank in unexpected amusement rolled thru him despite his concern for Natalie. "You were setting her up? Trying to get them two together?"

Bo shrugged a little, " I know its not like me to interfere but I can tell John really liked her and well... Natalie likes him too. I just want to see her happy. After all that's happened she deserves some happiness more than anyone I know. I think John could give that to her."

Rex chuckled a little at Bo's uncharacteristic matchmaking but he agreed with him. Natalie DID deserve to be happy more than anybody. "If you keep up with this kind of thing I might have to start calling you a girly man," he teased then got serious, "Are you sure she is ok?"

"She's fine. I promise. She wasn't hurt. She actually is the one who took down the guy. The idiot didn't take off the safety on the gun. Plus John is with her now just incase."

Rex nodded, satisfied for the moment, "I'll wait till the morning to go see her then. Most likely she is sleeping now. I don't want to wake her up."

Bo nodded and turned back to look at Antonio. 'Who would want to hurt you Antonio?' he thought to himself, 'And why?'

**To be continued...**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: I don't own John, Natalie, Rex, Bo, Carlo, Antonio, Jessica, or any other OLTL character. I am only borrowing them because I had a good idea story. Since the idiots in charge refuse to show some imagination I had to do it so I could look at any of these characters again and still respect them. (Though Jessica is very hard even with all this.)**

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**Chapter 12**

John stirred from his sleep when Natalie slid to the edge of the bed and got up. He figured she was going to the bathroom so he relaxed and burrowed back into the bed.

When he heard the bedroom door open he sat up quickly and looked at her. She stood at the open doorway unmoving as if undecided where to go. "Natalie?" John called to her softly not wanting to startle her. She didn't answer him; in fact it was like she didn't hear him at all so he called her name a little louder. Still no response.

He was starting to get concerned so he got up and went to her. Taking her arm he said her name again. "Natalie?" This time she mumbled something but still didn't turn to face him. Thinking maybe she was sleepwalking John was at a loss. His first instinct was to wake her up but he remembered reading somewhere that doing that was a bad idea so he didn't really know what to do other than keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't trip or something.

John pulled on Natalie's arm slightly hoping to guide her back to bed. She turned slightly and he was shocked to see that her eyes were open. He looked into them intently and noticed that although her eyes were open she wasn't conscious. He had seen a couple of his buddy's do that when they had fallen asleep on a stake out so he wasn't shocked as much as he would have been otherwise.

Pulling her arm a bit harder he was relieved when Natalie walked with him to the bed. Sluggishly she climbed back into the bed and lay down. Her eyes closed and she lay still, as if nothing had happened. John stood watching her for a few minutes in case she got up again but when she stayed still he climbed back into the bed and lay down pulling her back into his arms.

* * *

The next morning Natalie woke slowly. Feeling the hard, warm body next to her she started, then remembered John. He had stayed with her. She rolled over gently and saw that he was still asleep. His face was peaceful, free of the lines that stress put there, and it took years off his handsome face.

Arousal flowed thru her and she blushed, even though she knew he couldn't see or hear her. Feeling embarrassed she got up off the bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

John heard Natalie get up and looked at her. He saw that she was fully awake and heading to the bathroom. When he heard the shower come on he got out of bed and grabbed his cell phone to call Bo. He knew that Natalie would want to know how Antonio was doing and he knew Bo would want to know how Natalie was doing.

As he waited for Bo to pick up he thought back to last night when Natalie had sleep walked. He thought about asking Bo if she had any history of sleepwalking but decided to just ask Natalie instead, figuring that she wouldn't like it if he went behind her back asking her family questions about her.

"Hello?" Bo answered his phone tiredly. He had been up all night with Jess and the Vega's. Carlotta was hysterical with fear and anger. She wanted whoever had done this to her boy caught and put in a cage.

"Hey Bo, it's John. How's Antonio?"

"He's gonna be fine in a couple weeks. Someone worked him over real good though. I don't understand why. I'm hoping maybe Antonio can give us something when he wakes up."

"He's not awake yet? That's not good is it? I mean that could indicate brain damage or something, right?" John was confused. Didn't Bo just say Antonio would be ok?

"Ohh No nothing like that. They just have him on meds for the pain. They make him sleep. How is my niece? How's she handling things?" Bo was concerned about Natalie. She had been thru so much recently. He hoped that this wouldn't cause a set beck on her mental recovery. On the other hand he was extremely proud of her for handling that thug all on her own.

"She is ok I guess. She broke down last night, finally. I think that helped, letting it all out. I think she just needs to get back to her normal life now. So she isn't thinking about everything all the time. You know? She doesn't need to dwell on it all. That will just make her worse I think." John confided, his voice tender and caring.

Bo heard John's tone and smiled to himself. The man really cared about Natalie a lot, it was obvious. He hoped that the two could find some happiness together. "I'll think about it. I don't want her back here too early. As much as I love Natalie I have to think about the job too. I don't want her to make any mistakes because of stress or any delayed feelings from her experience."

John understood Bo's caution but thought that it was unfounded. From everything he had learned about Natalie he didn't think she would screw up. In fact, if anything, he thought she would be more focused on her work but Bo was the boss and Natalie's uncle, it wasn't his place to question his decision. "Ok, that's all I can ask boss," was all he said.

Hearing the bathroom door open he looked up and saw Natalie coming out, dressed much to his disappointment. He had secretly wanted to see her in just a towel.

Natalie came over to John, seeing that he was on the phone she gave him a questioning look.

"It's Bo," John told her.

Natalie nodded and then she heard Bo ask John if he could speak to her. When John handed the phone to her she said, "Hi Uncle Bo."

"Hey Natty. How are you?" Bo asked.

Natalie nodded absently and said, "Fine. Couldn't be better." Her voice wavered a little but was otherwise strong.

Bo wasn't convinced, "Come on Natty. This is me you are talking to."

Natalie glanced over at John who was headed to the bathroom in order to give her some privacy then said, "Ok, maybe I have been better but I'm dealing. I'll be fine Uncle Bo. I promise," meaning it this time. She was dealing, thanks to John and her family. She would be ok. Carlo wasn't going to take another moment from her life and neither was some two bit thug that thought it would be a good idea to grab her during a robbery. "How's Antonio?" she asked changing the subject.

"He'll be fine but I'm sure he would love it you stopped by. I know you two are good friends. When you come down just make sure either John or your bodyguard is with you," Bo said firmly. He wasn't taking any chances. Carlo wasn't finished with her yet no matter what Natalie might think.

"Ok, Ok I promise," Natalie said not liking it but knowing he wouldn't relent.

After a few minutes of talking they hung up and Natalie looked around for John. He was still in the bathroom, from the sound of the running water she realized he was taking a shower also. She grinned as she thought of him using her floral body wash and her raspberry scented shampoo.

She went to the bathroom door and knocked loudly. When the shower went off and he shouted yeah to her she said, "I'm going down to the kitchen." He said ok and the shower went back on so she headed for the kitchen to make them some breakfast.

As soon as she got down there the doorbell rang. Sighing in annoyance she went to the door and opened it, Rex engulfed her in a hug the second the door was open. She smiled into his neck at his actions and hugged him back fiercely.

After a long moment Rex finally pulled back and put his hands on her upper arms. Holding her tightly he said, "Christ Natty, are you trying to give me a heart attack? First you get kidnapped then you are in a robbery! God!" He pulled her tight and hugged her once more.

They hugged once more and when they pulled away Natalie noticed that John was standing in the doorway watching them with a small smile on his face. It was obvious that the two loved each other and it didn't matter that they weren't biologically related. "Balsom," he acknowledged with a slight nod.

Rex glanced at John and noticed the look he was giving Natalie. Or rather Natalie's butt... Which was something he really didn't want to think about. "McBain," he replied.

Natalie looked between the two and then laughed. They were eyeing each other like to roosters in a hen house. She know for a fact that Rex liked John and that John liked (or at least tolerated) Rex. Men! She thought. Always posturing. "How about I fix us some breakfast?" she said.

At that Rex grinned widely and went back to the door, he reached for a bag that Natalie hadn't noticed before. When he brought it over he said, "No need I brought you some breakfast."

Taking the bag into the kitchen, the two men following her, she put it on the counter and opened it up. Pulling out a big container she then opened that... Then burst out laughing. She turned around to Rex and gave him a big hug. "You're the best, little brother."

John reached over and looked at the container and was confused, inside was Macaroni and Cheese.

**To be continued...**


	13. Chapter 13 NC 17

**Ok everyone sorry for the LONG wait. I know it's been A LONG time between chapters and I hope this chapter makes up for it! Forgive me if it is a bit stilted and not that good in the beginning but that part gave me trouble and for the life of me I can't figure out what to do to fix it.**

**First warning... This chapter is quite long (something that I also hope with put me in good graces with the masses...) and**

**Second warning... SMUT ALERT. There is explicit sex in this chapter. If you do not like smut only read the first portion (there is vital info in the first 500 words!) then skip to the end. All those that do like smut (Everyone right?) enjoy! Oh and another note. The next chapter will almost probably be smutty also.**

**Attn: I don't own John or Natalie or any other OLTL character. I do own everyone else though.**

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**Chapter 13**

John lay in bed, his arms wrapped around the gorgeous redhead he had come to love. The past three weeks had been the weirdest yet the happiest he had ever known. His job was going well and when he wasn't working he was spending all his free time with Natalie. Natalie... Just her name could make his heart skip a beat. He felt so much for her and he didn't ever want to stop.

The past three weeks had been hard for Natalie. After the robbery and then the attack on Antonio she had started sleepwalking. A week after the robbery she had called him in the middle of the night crying. She had woken up in the middle of the lawn at Llanfair and didn't know how she had gotten there. After that Her mom had had to fly to London for a heart procedure and Jessica, true to her nature, had abandoned Natalie in favor of taking car of Antonio, leaving Natalie alone at Llanfair. Rex had been practically attached to Natalie's side however and John was forever grateful for that.

The bond between Rex and Natalie was something special and he was glad that she had that. But even Rex couldn't e there all the time so John had suggested that Natalie stay with him until Carlo was caught, or at least until she felt safe enough to be on her own. It broke his heart to see such a strong woman be so fearful and Natalie was the strongest woman, the strongest person period, he had ever met. So she had gone back to work and then had started staying with him. They went out and played pool, they went to dinner together and did almost everything else together as well. Their friendship was solid and the undercurrents of desire and affection were pushed aside for the moment.

Until last night... He tightened his hold on her his body becoming hard and aching as he thought back on the previous night.

They had just gotten to his apartment when he had given in to the urge to kiss her. Things had progressed but then he had gotten a phone call from the station about a suspected robbery. Natalie had been staying with him since the attack on Antonio, his attacker was still out there. She was scared to stay alone at Llanfair, Vicki had gone out of town to London for a heart operation and Jessica was staying at the hospital and then at Antonio's until he got better...

He had gone to check out the robbery and when he had come back Natalie had changed for bed and was sitting on it reading a book, with a 9mm sitting on the nightstand next to her, just in case. Naturally he had been surprised about the gun but when he had gazed into her eyes he had lost all train of thought. He had blurted out he loved her and then they had been all over each other.

"_I love you Natalie," he blurted out, then his eyes widened in shock. He hadn't meant to say that but he meant it more than he had ever thought possible._

_Natalie's gasped in surprised pleasure at that unexpected admission and her eyes flew to his face. She could tell he was just as surprised by his words as she was but she could also tell he meant them, love was written in every line of his face. "I love you too John!" She admitted a little shyly. She shifted towards him and the shoulder of her robe gaped just a little, giving him a glimpse of her nightgown underneath. _

_John gazed at Natalie his heart pumping hard at the sight of her barely clad body. His blood sang with joy at her admission and also with fierce desire as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her. Kissing her with a leashed passion he moaned into her mouth when it opened to his questing tongue. Thrust his tongue past her lips and licked the inner recesses, reveling in her moan. _

_Natalie kissed John back with equal fever and tangled her hands into his hair, pulling him closer. The weeks of fear and suppressed longing were forgotten as the tidal wave of desire and need overwhelmed them both. She gasped into his mouth as he brought his hands to her shoulders and pushed off the silky blue robe she wore. Underneath was a skimpy negligee that he had bought her for some occasion that she couldn't quite remember with his hands on her body. _

_Taking her hands from his hair she brought them to his chest and trailed them down his stomach to the hem of the t-shirt he wore. Gripping it she broke their heated kiss and pulled it over his head, leaving him bare-chested. Throwing the shirt on the floor behind her she grinned up at him thru the red vale of hair as she leaned forward. Pushing him back she leaned over him and began to kiss his stomach delighting in his gasp and full body shudder at the feel of her lips on his skin.  
_

_John was in heaven; the feel of Natalie's lips on his body was exquisite. Fire raced across his nerve endings, he burned everywhere she touched him and he loved every minute of it. He tangled his hands into her hair loving the silky feel of her fiery tresses as they slid sensuously between his fingers. As her mouth slid up his chest and her hands caressed his sides he moaned, his fingers caressed the side of her face even as they burrowed deeper into her hair. Wanting to see her face he tightened his hold on her hair, pulling it slightly. _

_Natalie glanced up at the slight tug of her hair. Her breath caught in her throat at the look he gave her. His beautiful blue eyes blaze with love and an inner fire that was all consuming. Knowing it would drive him crazy she gave him a sinful smirk then licked at his nipple. _

_When the wet heat of her tongue laved his nipple John groaned and arched up a little. Some men weren't sensitive in that area but John wasn't one of them. The feel of her mouth on his manly nipples sent a bolt of pure lust rocketing thru him, his head fell back to the pillow and he let out a deep groan. After a few minutes of Natalie's attention he couldn't take it any more. He pulled her up his body and hungrily attacked her mouth with his own. Wrapping his arms around her waist he cupped her but in his palms and pushed her down on to his throbbing erection, needing for her to feel what she did to him. The both moaned in pleasure at the contact. _

_Rolling over, John's hands were clumsy with want as they pushed the straps of the sexy nightgown down Natalie's shoulders baring her to the waist. He groaned at the sight of her breasts. They were milky white with dusky tips and big enough to fill his hand and then some. She was so beautiful! "Natalie!" he rasped out in a voice gone husky with intense desire and love. Bending he took her left nipple in his mouth as he touched and caressed her other breast with his eager hand. _

"_Oh God, John!" Natalie moaned out at the feel of him all over her. Her heart raced and her breath was ragged with her need. Heat pooled between her legs and a rush of moisture flooded her aching womanhood. Her mind was clouded with desire as John licked and sucked her breasts alternating with his hands and mouth between the two. Her hips began to move restlessly underneath him and her hands roamed his back, scoring him slightly with her nails. _

_John loved the feel and the taste of her body, the feel of her hands on his back made him cry out. He trailed hot openmouthed kisses down her stomach but kept his hands on her breasts, kneading them. He laved her navel with his tongue dipping into her belly button. He grinned at the barely audible exclamation that escaped her. Reaching the edge of the nightgown that was pooled around her waist he finally took his hands from her breasts and tugged on the gown, pushing it down her hips when she lifted them for him. _

_Clad in only her skimpy panties and panting with desire Natalie pushed at his boxers until he lifted himself away from her and removed them, leaving him naked and obviously VERY aroused. She moaned at the sight of his jutting shaft. Squirming underneath him she slid down the bed until she could grasp his hardness in her hands then gave him a slow teasing stroke from the base to the tip. _

_John felt her hands on him and his hips jerked in reaction before he could stop himself. He groaned loudly at her slow almost teasing caress his need going up another notch and his groin tightened painfully. His shaft was a hot throbbing bar of need and the feel of her hand on him made it difficult not to simply tear her underwear off her and plunge into her waiting heat, especially when she began moving that hand on him in a slow stead rhythm. Steeling himself he pulled away her, took a deep stabilizing breath as he tugged her back up the bed. Pushing her back firmly into the mattress he continued kissing and caressing his way down her body until he came to the moist curls at the apex of her thighs. _

_Using his hands he gently moved her knees apart granting him access to her core. Inwardly he groaned as he inhaled the musky sent of her need. He slid his fingers thru the damp curls, loving the pleasured gasps of need she gave. Spreading her open he grinned up at her then lowered his mouth onto her. With long slow strokes of his tongue he began to drive her over the edge into the abyss of pure sensation. _

"_John!" Natalie cried out as his licks became faster and he took his finger and pushed it slowly, teasingly, into her slick cannel. She was soaked with need and trembled at his touch. Her passion rose until she was consumed by it. Her hips moved into his caresses in time with the strokes of his finger into her body. Bucking into him Natalie let out plaintive wail as he kept her on the edge not letting her go over until he was certain she could take no more. _

_He loved that he could make her this crazy for him. As he heard her keening wail he looked up at Natalie, seeing her flushed face and her writhing body he decided she had had enough and he added another finger into her pulsing heat, curling them up and hitting that spot inside her that made her moan loudly. Stroking his fingers into her he sped up his rhythm and clamped his lips onto her clit, sucking strongly. She flew over the cliff and into ecstasy, her body arching up and her hands pulling at his hair roughly. _

_Natalie was awash in a sea of pleasure, wave after wave hit her as she climaxed onto his fingers and into his mouth. Finally after a long minute she relaxed and fell back to the bed limply. "God!" she gasped._

_John pulled out his fingers from her body and then, unable to stop himself, he gave her one last lick, tasting her juices, thinking they were the best thing he had ever tasted. Seeing her climax escalated his need until he could no longer wait to claim her, he had to take her now or he would die of want. He moved up her body, trailing nibbling kisses up until he reached her mouth then he positioned himself at her entrance he said, "Just wait..." then slid into her._

_Natalie gasped as he filled her, stretching her wide, but then wrapped her legs around his waist with renewed passion. She had been limp and replete just a moment ago but now the fire in her burned again, just as fiercely as before at the feel of him deep inside her, "John," she whispered as he again kissed her passionately. _

_As he kissed her he began moving his hips, unable to be still. The feel of her under him, surrounding him driving past all control. He quickened his pace as the need for release clawed at him. Tearing his mouth away from her he moaned, "Natalie!" before trailing his lips down her cheek and latching onto her neck. He sucked on her skin at the sensitive place just below her ear, leaving his mark on her skin, his primal side wanting her to be marked as his. _

_The combination of her earlier orgasm, the feel of his throbbing shaft pushing into her body and the suction of his mouth below her ear sent Natalie into another climax, this one more powerful than the last. She screamed out and tightened her legs around his waist as her inner muscles rippled and clenched around his length. Fire ripped thru her body and blasted her brain._

_The sounds and feel of Natalie's release triggered his own and with a cry he came hard, thrusting violently into her again and again, his seed pumping out of him and leaving him empty. Finally he stopped moving and collapsed on top of her and rested his head into her neck. "I love you Natalie," he whispered to her for the second time that night, needing her to hear it again almost as much as he needed to say it. _

_Natalie lay beneath him spent and languid, her heart still hammering and her breath coming in choppy gasps but when she heard his whisper she stopped breathing all together in wonder. He has said it before and she knew he meant it but every time she heard those words they seared her soul with happiness. "I love you too John." Peace filled her and she felt better than she ever had before in her life._

_After a long moment of satisfied silence John pulled out of her, only then realizing that he had not used protection but he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. He gathered Natalie close to him and then pulled the blankets over him silently, content for the moment to let all their other problems be for now. They would deal with everything else in the morning_.

**To be continued...**


	14. Chapter 14 NC 17

**This one is pure smut. No plot at all really. Hope you all like it. I would have had it out much sooner but a friend of mine has been having some problems and keeps needing to talk just when I seem to be in the mood to write. (That's friends for ya huh? LOL) Thanks for all the awesome reviews. I have read each and every one of them and they gave me a serious happy and the ego boost to go ahead to write another smutty chapter. The next one will probably not be smut as I do need to move the story along. LOL But I think there will be more smut before its finished. So happy reading and definitely send me reviews. Be they good or bad. (Hopefully good though. LOL)**

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**A/N: Don't own them, don't want to so don't sue.**

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**Chapter 14**

Natalie's lips curved into a smile as she woke from her peaceful sleep to the feel of John's arms around her. She blinked open her eyes and looked up into his loving face, "Hi," she said, her voice husky with sleep.

John watched as she woke, her voice interrupted his thoughts on the night before. He smiled down at her and could feel nothing but contentment at that moment. The look on her face, fill with so much love and affection, made his heart skip a beat. After all this time she was finally his and he was going to make sure everyone knew it. "Hey," he replied back to her gently and bent to kiss her soft lips.

Natalie returned the kiss with passion, wrapping her arms around his neck and running her fingers thru his sleep mused hair. Sliding her tongue to his lips she licked at them lightly before pulling his bottom lip into her mouth and sucking on it. Hearing his low moan of pleasure she grinned and lightly nipped at his lip before kissing him fully once more.

John was in awe of this new playful side to Natalie as she teased him with her wickedly sinful kisses. Moaning again he rolled on top of her nude body and pressed his hips into her, his hardness resting against her thigh. He groaned into her mouth as he rocked against her once before stilling his hips. Using one hand to hold himself up he took the other and ran it from her side to her shoulder and then down her arm, grasping her hand in his. He pulled her hand until it was extended above her head and wrapped her fingers around the bedpost. He did the same with her other hand and pulled back to look at her. "Keep them there."

She was breathtaking to him as he took in her kiss swollen lips to her passion glazed eyes. He ran his hands over her milky white shoulders and then brought them to her heaving chest. Cupping her breasts in his palms he marveled at the feel of them. They were perfect, glorious even. Big enough to fill his hands but still able to be pert. He leaned down and ran a line of kisses from her mouth to her ear before whispering, "Perfect," into her ear.

Natalie tightened her hands on the posts as John began to knead her aching breasts. The feel of his hands on them sent a shaft of desire straight thru her. She moaned as he fastened his mouth on her neck and sucked, leaving a dark mark in his wake. She hadn't known such an act would turn her on so much as a rush of moisture and heat shot to her core. She leaned her head to the side giving him better access.

After he laved the love mark with his tongue John moved down her neck and across her collarbone then down to the valley between her breasts. He loved the feel of her body as she moved restlessly under him. That he was the one to elicit this response from her drove him crazy with desire. His body was taunt with his passion, his need to burry himself inside her moist heat, but he wanted to taste her again.

Natalie watched him as he kissed his way down her stomach, pausing only to nip at her flesh a bit. Her legs fell open in response to the look he gave her as he moved to the apex of her thighs. When he touched his tongue to her outer lips she gave a loud moan and opened wider for him.

John took her offering and, taking his hands off of her breasts he moved them down to her legs to hold them open while he feasted on her sweet essence. He didn't even care when Natalie took her hands from the bedposts and tangled them in his hair while arching her hips off the bed against his mouth. He moaned at her taste and lapped at her core plunging his tongue deep into her before retreating and then returning once again. He continued to love her with his tongue as he brought his hand up her thigh and began to circle her clit.

The sensations were becoming torturous as waves of heat buffeted her body starting from her core and traveling thru her whole body. Her head tossed back and forth on the pillow as she moaned with the agony of want. She arched her hips into his mouth with each thrust of his tongue. She was close to losing it all together when she felt his fingers circle her then lightly pinch her sensitive nub of flesh. She gasped at the sensation then with a yelp she went over the edge tumbling headlong into a powerful climax.

He waited till her climax was over and the tremors of aftershock passed then moved back up her body, loving the feel of her hands all over him. He kissed his way back up to her mouth and then gave her a smug self satisfied grin, "You liked that?"

Natalie laughed at his expression and wrapped her legs around his waist. Using her hips and arms she rolled them over so that she was sitting astride his stomach, "Yeah, I did." She grinned evilly and began to pepper kisses all over his upper torso while rocking her hips against him, her bottom rubbing his taunt shaft. As he moaned she stopped rocking loosened her grip on his sides with her legs and started to scoot down his body so that she was sitting on his legs just at the knees.

She bent down and then looked up into his bemused face, "Your turn." With that she lowered her mouth and took him into her mouth. Bringing her hands up she wrapped one around the base of his erection and took his balls in the other. She loved the feel of him, silk over steel. He was hot and hard and he throbbed with in her mouth as she moved on him and began to suck. She moved her hand up and down at the base where her mouth couldn't reach and her other hand massaged his balls.

John was in heaven. Her mouth and hands on him were exquisite, driving him toward release quickly. Her mouth was hot as fire surrounding him and it felt so good. He began to move his hips with her movements and his breath was shallow and labored as he fought to hold back his climax. "Nat... Natalie" he gasped, "Stop... Too good." He struggled to get the words out as he couldn't focus on anything other than the feel of her mouth on him and her hands gently squeezing and caressing his balls. "You have to stop. Gonna cum..." he managed to finally get out.

Natalie heard him, heard the huskiness in his voice and his labored breathing and grinned. She gave him one last lick then stopped. Moving up his body she carefully kneeled over him and lowered herself onto his already slick erection, moaned as she sunk onto him. He filled her, stretched her, made her burn and tingle. She gasped as he sunk to the hilt as pleasure washed over her at the feel of him deep inside her.

She was hot, wet, and tight and he felt like he had finally come home. He groaned low and long as he slid into her then grapping her hands he rolled them over so that he was on top. He stretched both their arms above them his fingers intertwined with hers as he bent his head and gave her a carnal kiss filled with unspent passion and desire. Still feeding from her lips he began to move his hips working his shaft in and out of her core, making them both moan.

Natalie moved with him and soon their pace quickened, release not far away. With biting kisses and fevered rubbing and thrusting they hurled towards paradise. Sensing that she was close John began to rotate his hips slightly hitting her at a slightly different angle. That was enough to push her into a shuddering climax as she cried out his name. John followed her right over the cliff as he tripped head long into release, moaning her name as he clenched his hands around hers, his body arching as he drove into her one last time then going taunt as a bowstring as he spilled into her pulsing core.

After a few moments he collapsed on top of her and tried to get his breathing back under control. Finally he got enough energy to move off from her and he lay beside her and pulled her to him, tucking her tightly against his side. After a while he spoke, "I love you Natalie," he told her seriously, the emotions churning inside him making him need to say it again.

Natalie smiled at him, "I love you too." She lay there quietly for a few minutes then said, "What a way to wake up."

John laughed and then glanced at the clock. "Shit! We got to get ready for work."

Natalie laughed at his urgency but got up anyway. She headed to the shower then glanced over her shoulder at John, he was staring at her naked butt. "Like what you see?"

John laughed and gave her a wolfish grin, "Oh yeah."

She laughed again and winked at him before going into the bathroom.

John stared at the door that was slightly ajar then grinned again wickedly and hopped off the bed and sauntered into the bathroom.

"John!" Natalie cried out, already in the shower, pretending to be shocked.

"Natalie!" John mocked her teasingly then stepped into the shower with her. "Just saving water," he explained still sporting the grin.

"Yeah, right." Natalie said and then they proceeded to take their shower and get ready for their day.

**To be continued...**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N Don't own these characters. I would love it if I did so I could write them the way I want to but I have to settle for Fanfic. I am not making any money on this story, hopefully I will get lots of good reviews though.**

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**Chapter 15**

Natalie rode to the police station with John and then after a kiss good bye she headed to the lab. She loved her job, the way she could take seemingly worthless pieces of trash and use them to put a criminal behind bars. Currently she was working a very sensitive breaking and entering case. The crime itself wasn't that unusual but the victim was the mayor himself so she was under extra pressure to find something that would lead to the apprehension of the culprit.

She logged in then slipped on her white lab coat and headed to the evidence room to process the broken window fragments. Slipping on her police issue rubber gloves she took out a large piece of glass from the evidence box and looked it over with her naked eye then set it on the table.

She was just taking out her black fingerprint powder when another lab annalist stuck his head into the room. "Hey Natalie. Any progress? The Mayor has been calling every hour to demand a report."

Natalie looked up as she unscrewed the top of the powder container and set it on the table. She slid on her goggles as she answered, "Sorry Harris, I just started with this window. You get anything from the foot prints?" she asked, referring to the footprints left in some potting soil next to the back door of the Mayors' home.

"Size 12 of a men's work boot. That's all I got. I came up empty on prints in the house too. I think the guy most likely wore gloves." Harris stepped in the room and watched as Natalie expertly put the print powder brush (something like a large makeup powder brush) into the print powder and then began to spread the powder gently onto the flat surface of the glass. She barely brushed the surface but it was enough to let the powder cover the surface and reveal any prints that were on the surface. After a few minutes it was obvious that though there were a few smudges there were no useable prints.

Flipping the glass over Natalie began the process again before asking, "And the list of stolen property?"

Harris shook his head and said, "The Mayor Floyd is still working on it. I guess it was pretty extensive."

Natalie finished the printing and sighed at the fact that there was no useable prints on the glass. She then picked up the glass and walked over to a table holding a clear Plexiglas box. She took the lid off the box and then reached in and set the glass inside on a small stand then she walked over to the cabinet and took out some chemicals and then measured out a small amount. Putting them also in the box she put the lid back on and set the timer.

Harris had watched all this with interest and asked, "What are you looking for?"

"I'm not sure. The print powder was acting kinda funny. I think there is something on the surface of the glass that I can't see. The reaction between the 2 chemicals I put in there will harden whatever it is enough is I can take a scraping and send it to trace." Natalie went back to the evidence box, took out the other piece of window and, using a small scalpel, scraped the surface of the glass on both sides. "I don't think it will show up in this sample but it's worth a try."

"What could possible be on it?" Harris asked baffled as to what Natalie was looking for.

"I am not sure," she said again, "But I think this window was kicked in. What ever is on the glass might have come from that boot before it was in the potting soil. It could tell us where the perp was right before he robbed the house."

Harris looked suitably interested in her theory and went to ask anther question then the timer dinged. Natalie walked back over to the Plexiglas box and then vented the fumes out with the fan that was installed in the box. After it was all vented she took off the top and then removed the piece of glass. Underneath the print powder there was a large textured spot that was not visible before. Natalie scraped off a small amount and sealed it in an evidence bag then picking up the other sample she collected she started down to trace.

Harris followed her and they talked about the possible suspects along the way. They were about half way there when Natalie's cell phone rang. Natalie and then looked at the caller id and then sighed. It rang again and she ignored it, she didn't really want to answer it because Vicki had taken to offering advise about how she should stay at home until Carlo was found. When it rang yet again Harris asked, "You gonna get that?" Natalie sighed Its my mom..." she muttered to herself more than to him, "I hate when she calls me at work."

She flipped open her phone and answered, "What's up mom?" Vicki immediately wanted to know where she had been the night before and why she didn't answer her phone, knowing that it would take a little time to calm her down Natalie asked, "Can you take that to trace for me? This is gonna take a few minutes."

Harris hesitated for a second looking around; he had been warned by the commissioner himself not to let Natalie go anywhere alone. He noticed one of Natalie's bodyguards standing a discreet distance down the hall and was relieved. He nodded to the other man then said to Natalie, "Sure. No problem." With that he headed down the hall to the elevator. When he turned around and looked back he could see that Natalie was already into a animated conversation with her mother.

Natalie refused to tell her mother what exactly she had been doing the night before but she was pretty sure she knew anyway. After a few minutes more Natalie finally was able to say good bye and then hung up. She sighed to herself and then went back to the lab room she had been using. She was just starting to take out the next piece of evidence when her cell rang again.

"Hello?" her voice was sharper then she intended but she was irritated with getting interrupted. After a minute in which she said nothing, just listened, Natalie hung up the phone and slid it back in her pocket. She slowly put the evidence back in the box and then sealed the box and returned it to the evidence locker. Stripping off her gloves she dropped them into the trash and headed for the ladies room.

Jim Wackowski, the bodyguard, followed her to the bathroom and waited outside the door, insuring no one went in that he didn't approve of.

Natalie absently turned on the water in the sink and then walked over to the window on the sidewall. The Lab was on the ground floor of the police building so it was close to the ground. The window had a window alarm and Natalie frowned slightly at that. Then taking a pair of nail clippers from her purse and a roll of tape she proceeded to clip the alarm wires and rewire it so she could open the window with out anyone noticing.

She opened the window and slipped out, accidentally dropping her left earring on the floor behind the heater. Once she was outside she carefully closed the window so that no one that wasn't looking would notice anything wrong.

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Asa Buchanan was at home talking to Clint on the phone. He was unaware of his granddaughter was right that moment entering his office and using his computer to download BE corporate secrets.

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John sat in his office starting blankly at the dartboard hanging on the wall. He had a half grin on his face as he thought about Natalie, making love with her, her telling him she loved him. He was so intent on his thoughts he didn't hear Bo knock on the door and enter the room.

"John?"

"John?" Bo asked a second time, but with out any annoyance at being ignored. The grin on John's face was a welcome one and he could bet that it was because of Natalie. It had been obvious from the first time he had seen them together that they were made for one another. Something must have happened to make John look that happy. Maybe he finally told her of his feelings...

"Wha..? What?" John blinked and then looked around to see who had disturbed his good thoughts. He gave Bo a sheepish look when he finally noticed the other man. "You need somethin' boss?"

Bo ignored the question and instead asked one of his own, "So... what were you thinking about that made you look so happy?"

John managed to look even more sheepish and said, "Natalie."

Bo smiled indulgently, "Of course... I don't know what I was thinking to even ask. No one else can put that silly look on your face."

John shook his head, slightly embarrassed, "Did you need something? Or did you come in here just to hassle me about my personal life?"

Bo chuckled, then, thinking he had teased John enough, he said, "I need the crime scene photos of the Floyd case."

John shuffled things around on his desk until he saw the file and then handed it to Bo, "Here ya go. Something bothering you about that one?"

"I don't know. Something Rex said to me earlier get me to thinking. He said that it looked too neat for a B & E. It got me thinking that maybe there is something more to this."

John nodded; it was possible that this was a professional job. He too had been thinking something was off about the Mayor's story but the man had a solid alibi and John hadn't been able to come up with a reason the Mayor would lie about what happened.

Just as Bo was leaving the room John got a call at his desk, "Yeah?"

"Lt. McBain, Ms. Buchanan appears to have slipped out of the building with out me."

John felt his heart seize up with fear, "DAMMIT!" He took a deep breath then said into the phone, "I'll be right there." He hung up the phone and headed to the lab praying that Natalie was ok.

**To be continued...**


	16. Chapter 16

**Attn: I don't own John or Natalie or any other OLTL character. I do own everyone else though.**

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**Chapter 16**

Natalie let her self into Asa's office, wearing a pair of gloves, and began rummaging thru his files. She knew the password for his computer so she boot it up as well. Taking out a disk she slid it in to the disk drive and waited for it to boot. While she was waiting she removed several files from the filing cabinet and placed them on the desk next to the computer.

Her eyes held a far away expression and her movements were deliberate, almost robotic as she sat down at the desk and began downloading files from the computer. She was finished with in minutes and with out saying a word she saved all the files on the disk, deleted them from the computer, then shut it down and pocketed the disk. Taking the file with her she left the office. She headed for the security room knowing no one would be in there having seen the one guy watching the monitors leave for lunch on her way into the building. She went to the security camera imput device, All cameras were worried into a DVD burner and the images burned to disc. She took the disc's for that day and exited quickly. That done she left the building knowing that the cameras weren't recording her because she hadn't put in another disc. Stopping at the post office she bought an envelope addressed it and then slipped the files and disk inside. She sealed it then slid it in the outgoing mail slot.

That done Natalie headed back out of the post office and back to the lab. Climbing in the window she fixed the alarm and then headed for a bathroom stall. Once she shut the door she experienced a sudden lightheaded feeling and promptly passed out, smashing her head against the stall door cutting her forehead. She hit the floor with a thud, blood trickling onto the floor from the cut.

John rushed down to the lab and was greeted by the upset bodyguard. He told John that he had waited a long while and when he realized how long Natalie had been in there, 20 minutes, he had called into the bathroom and Natalie hadn't answered. Worried he had gone in and seen that she wasn't there and had immediately called John.

As soon as Jim, the bodyguard, finished John headed for the bathroom to check it out himself. He knocked on the door and called out that he was coming in. He was really worried about Natalie and why she would simply disappear with out telling him. He had tried her cell phone 3 times already but it had gone directly to voicemail so he was even more worried.

John went in to the bathroom and looked around. He went directly to the window and saw that nothing was the matter with it. If it had been opened the alarm would have gone off. Not expecting much he began to open individual stall doors. The doors went all the way to the floor to prevent anyone from looking under. One after another he pushed open with no resistance. When he got to the one on the very end in the corner of the bathroom the door wouldn't open. He knocked and no one answered. He wasn't concerned, thinking it had latched accidentally after someone had closed it. He went to the stall next to it and climbed up on the toilet, feeling a bit foolish, like a teenager trying to get a peak at the girls.

What he saw on the other side caused him to gasp in fear and shout. "She is in here! She's bleeding!"

Jim came running in, feeling confused, he had been sure he had checked every stall but now, he wasn't as positive as he had been.

"Call maintenance to get this door off and call an ambulance. Her head is bleeding." John knew they needed to get the door off so they could get Natalie out of the stall. He was frantic with worry now, the sight of Natalie's blood causing him to panic like nothing else ever could, yet he was relieve that she was here and not kidnapped or in some unknown danger again.

He climbed over the wall and, in the tiny space, he checked her pulse. He sighed in relief. She was breathing and her pulse was strong. He could hear maintenance outside working on the door as he touched Natalie's face. "Natalie?" he called softly, patting her cheek trying to wake her up.

Natalie moaned in pain as she heard someone calling her name.

John heard the moan and called again, "Natalie. Baby, wake up!" Just then the door of the stall was removed with a loud bang and he looked up from Natalie to see Bo standing there along with 2 EMT's.

Natalie groaned and tried to open her eyes. Her head felt like it had been blown up with air. When she got her eyes open the first face she saw was John's and she smiled. "Hey," she whispered.

John saw her eyes flicker then open and he smiled. She was waking up. Looking into those pools of blue he felt his breath catch and he forgot how to breath for a second.

Natalie tried to sit up and moaned in pain. Her head was throbbing and she didn't remember going in to the bathroom, let alone falling and hitting her head. "What happened?" she groaned out holding her head where she had hit it on the stall door.

John snapped out of his revere and bent down to pick her up. Holding her close he brought her to the ambulance outside the building and set her down gently on the gurney. He looked around and noticed that Bo and the others had followed. "I'm not sure. I was hoping you would tell me. Your bodyguard was waiting outside the bathroom for you. When you didn't come out he got worried and thought you had snuck off."

Natalie hissed as the EMT cleaned off her cut and placed a bandage on it. Her head felt strange, her thinking was slightly muddled, like she had slightly too much to drink. "I feel weird. My head..." trailing off she winced again as a sharp pain lanced thru her.

John looked sharply at the EMT silently questioning the other man with his eyes. Concern for Natalie was etched on his face.

"Is she gonna be ok?" Bo cut in, worried for his niece.

The EMT looked at all of them and nodded. "She should be fine. I want to check your blood pressure and blood sugar to find out why you passed out," he said to Natalie.

Natalie sat silently as the man strapped a cloth band around her arm and began to pump it up. She winced as it increased in pressure, 'wonder why these things always have to be so tight?" she thought to herself. She looked at Bo and was touched by the caring concern in his eyes. He was her favorite relative of the Buchanans. He was more like a father to her than Clint had ever been. It if hadn't been for his patience and loving advice she would have made it as a forensic annalist or anything else for that matter.

Bo was trying to keep his worry and concern under control. When John had yelled for an ambulance his heart had froze in his chest. A wave of fear had swamped him and stolen the breath from his lungs. All he had been able to think was that Carlo had been able to harm Natalie again, that she was dead or dying. When he had heard her groan it had been music to his ears.

"When he is done Natalie You are going home and straight to bed!" Bo told her, his concern making him a little more harsh then he meant to.

Normally she would have argued but Natalie felt like crap and her head was throbbing. Her thoughts were still confused and muddled. She looked at John and saw that he agreed with Bo and knew that no matter what she said she would have to do what Bo had told her to so she accepted the edict gracefully with a nod.

John was relieved that she had agreed with out a fight, but knew that she really must be feeling badly to give in so easily. Once the EMT was done and had pronounced her fit, except for a bump on the head anyway, John scooped her up off the gurney and carried her to his car.

Natalie was embarrassed and slightly shocked when John just simply carried her off with out another word. "John..." she protested, whining slightly.

John just grinned at her and said, "You thought I would let you out of my sight after that?" Ignoring her shocked looked he simply walked around to the other side of the car and got in, then drove her back to his room so he could keep an eye on her.

**To be continued...**


	17. Chapter 17 NC 17

**Chapter 17**

Natalie's cell phone woke her up the next morning with its incessant ringing. She groaned and rolled over her hand blindly reaching out to pick it up.

"Hello?" she mumbled out feeling John stir beside her.

"Hey Nat!"

"Jess?" Natalie questioned sleepily.

"Yup!" Jess said cheerfully. "What are you doing later?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"I thought we might go out tonight, hang out..."

At that Natalie sat up and John looked at her questioningly, she just shook her head and said to Jess, "I thought you were in London?"

I came back last night after I heard what happened yesterday. I realized that I don't spend enough time with you and if I want to be like real sisters, which I do, I have to be here. So I transferred myself back to Llanview and...well here I am!"

"That's great Jess!" Natalie was touched that Jessica wanted to rebuild, or rather build, their relationship. She looked at John and asked, "You work tonight?"

"I was supposed to, but I was gonna call in and hang out with you..." he said with a salacious grin. "Why?"

"So Natalie, want to go out tonight?" Jessica asked.

"Hang on Jess, Let me talk to John for a sec." Jessica made a noise of ascension into the phone and waited.

"Well Jess came back from London and wants to go out. You wouldn't mind... would ya? Its gonna be like a girls night out. I figure I can spend the night at Llanfair, you wouldn't have to miss work for me and..." seeing John about to protest she said, "I know you hate to miss work! Don't deny it!"

"I want to be around you more though. I love you Natalie." He was quiet for a second, seeing that Natalie really wanted to spend some time with her twin he couldn't help but relent, "Its ok Natalie. I know you'll be with Jessica and you won't be alone; I just don't want anything to happen to you. Yesterday really sacred me..."

"Ahh John! That's so sweet. I'll have Jess and I'm sure the body guards that I got following me around won't let anything happen to me." She looked at him lovingly, "I'll be really careful. I promise." She placed a quick kiss on his lips and then said into the phone, "We're on Jess. I'll meet you at Llanfair at 5. K?"

"Sure Nat! See you tonight. And Oh! Tell John not to wear you out too much! " Jess said with a laugh as she hung up.

Natalie laughed as she also hung up. She saw the loving concern on John's face and said, " I really am feeling better John. My head hardly hurts at all."

John reached up and caressed her face, "I'm just worried about you. I'll always worry about you. After all you have been thru I don't think I can not worry."

Thinking of no better way to reassure John that she was feeling better Natalie leaned over and kissed him hard on the mouth. She let her hands slid over his chest and onto his shoulders hanging on as she kissed him with single-minded intent.

John moaned into the kiss as his tongue tangled with hers. His body hardening immediately at the passion he felt in her kiss. He fell back onto the bed, his hands clutching her back before sliding down to her ass and pushing her hard against his arousal. When Natalie broke off the kiss and moaned loudly at the contact John's brain started trying to work again.

"Wait" he gasped out. This was too soon, she had been thru so much yesterday and he wasn't sure she was ready for this right now. He didn't want to rush her,

Natalie pulled back even farther as John tried to catch his breath, "It's ok John. I'm fine. I want this," she told him, sensing his fears that she wasn't ready for such physical contact after yesterday. To forestall further protests she straddled his hips, bringing her center over his ridged crotch. Leaning down she kissed him as she ground herself against him in a delicious rhythm that had them both groaning.

John abandoned all thoughts of being noble at the fell of Natalie above him, rubbing against him. The slow rocking movements she was using slowly drove all rational thought from his brain. He breath backed up in his throat as he devoured her mouth with his. He brought one hand up and buried it in her hair even as he used the other to grasp the bottom of her pajama top.

Breaking the kiss and leaning back Natalie allowed John to remove her shirt; never breaking the rhythm of her hips.

John groaned low in his throat as he looked at Natalie's bare breasts. They were large and full, alabaster perfection with rosy pink nipples begging to be touched. Pushing her back until she was lying on her back on the bed. With his hands on either side of her supporting his weight he leaned over her and bent down. Taking her left nipple in his mouth, he sucked at it with intent, wanting to taste her, to feel that little bud harden and pucker under his attention.

Natalie moaned and writhed underneath him as he, switching sides intermittently, laved and sucked at her breasts. The intensity of it making her so hot she felt like she would catch fire. Her moist center throbbed from within with her drumming heartbeat. Her hands anchored in his hair as she held him to her breasts.

John smiled against her breasts loving the uninhibited response she gave. He loved the feel of her skin against him, loved knowing that it was him that brought out this wild passionate side. Finally after a long while he pulled back from her breasts enough to grin at her then attach his mouth to her neck. Kissing and licking his way to her mouth, where he took her lips with yet another hard passionate kiss.

Natalie was in heaven. John had his hands and mouth all over her and it felt wonderful. But there was something missing. She wanted to touch him, badly. Moving her hands from his hair to his shirt she munched it up and yanked upwards, telling him with out words that she wanted him as bare as she was.

John sat up quickly and removed his shirt. He sucked in a breath when Natalie ran her hands over his chest and stomach. Her fingers light and tender then grew firmer and more insistent. He sat as still as she could while she explored him, shudders running thru him when she stopped to play with his nipples for a moment.

When he had all he could take he pulled away and stood up. Taking his sweatpants off he got back on the bed and helped Natalie lay back. Reaching for her pajama bottoms he hooked his fingers in the waistband and pulled them down over her arched hips. Tossing them aside he parted her legs and moved his face to her center, noting the fact that she wasn't wearing any underwear. He looked up into her passion flushed face and smiled wickedly. He moved his hand up her thigh and, using his fingers, spread her outer lips apart so he could lick at the pouty little nub there.

Natalie squealed at the first lick, pleasure shooting thru her, colors blazing streaks under her clenched eyelids. His tongue worked her mercilessly sweeping back and forth over her clit, occasionally dipping in to her wet core. Her hands anchored themselves on his shoulders and her hips moved in time with his tongue. Moans spilled from her lips as the intense pleasure flowed thru her in wave after wave, winding her up making her desperate for release.

John felt the chance in her and knew she was close. He gave her one last lick and pulled away. He chuckled at her protesting shriek and moved up her body, aligning his body on top of hers.

Natalie was panting and shaking with the force of her desire as he moved up her body. She wanted him, NOW. Her body craved him, demanded that he be inside her. When John settled over her, his rock hard erection nudging her for entrance she sighed in relief only to yell as he suddenly snapped his hips forward and buried his thick length deep inside her slick canal. With a long moan she wrapped her legs about his waist and her arms around his torso flattening her body against his in an effort to get closer to him.

John groaned and shuddered with passion as Natalie wrapped herself around him. He could feel her breasts flattened against his chest, her hard nipples stabbing him, making his already hard erection stiffen further. He grunted as he began to move inside her, sliding out then back in again. Her hips moved and thrust in time with his movements and soon they were clinging to the edge ready to fall over. John gave one last hard shove inside throwing them both over the precipice into glorious ecstasy. Wave after wave of pleasure swamped them and they rode the waves until the storm passed, bringing them back down into the arms of peaceful bliss.

Natalie lay there in John's arms and thanked god that he was there. Her thoughts going back to all that she had been thru in the past few months and marveled that she had survived. Getting kidnapped, twice, then Carlo and now her mishap at the police station, it seemed like she was destined to have horrible luck. If it hadn't been for John she wouldn't have survived it all; literally she would not have made it. She looked up at his beautiful face and felt such love flow thru her. He really was the best thing in her life.

"I love you John" Her tone soft yet powerful and filled with such deep emotion John felt overwhelmed with his feelings. He had also been thanking god for her in those moments after their lovemaking. He was just so grateful that he had found her, that she was in his life. The fear he had felt yesterday when he hadn't known where she was melting away leaving just the raw powerful love that consumed him. Made him want to keep her with him, safe and happy, always.

"I love you too." Those words seemed inadequate for such intense emotions but he could think of no other words to express how he felt.

Quiet descended over them as they lay holding one another, both savoring the closeness they felt at being together.

**To be Continued...**


	18. Chapter 18

**Authors Note: Thanks for all the awesome reviews. I am so happy people still remember this story. It does my Jolie lovin heart good to read them. Gives me a serious happy.**

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Chapter 18 

Carlo sat in his gloomy motel room and watched the news with a gleeful smile. News of BE's latest corporate espionage had been on all the local news stations and he was more than pleased with his progress with Natalie. He hadn't been sure he had had enough time with her but she had been responding to his commands very well so far but he had more tasks for her.

This was just the beginning and he would be there watching... pulling the strings and the Buchanan's wouldn't know what hit them till it was too late. The plan was genius, destroy the heart of the enemy from with in and then watch as the rest fell like dominos.

After the news was over he got up and checked his watch.

"Soon..." He murmured to the empty room, his voice was rich with promise.

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Natalie ran up to Llanfair with her overnight bag slapping against her side. She and John had spend most of the day in bed not wanting to leave it even for food. As a result she was slightly late as she opened the door.

Jess met her at the door all ready for their night out. "Natalie!" she said with a smile and hugged her as she got in the door. "How are you feeling? Are you sure you're up to this?" concern showed in her voice. As much as she wanted to have a night out with Natalie she didn't want her to over do it.

Natalie rolled her eyes a little. "I'm good Jess. Promise. Give me a minute to get changed and then we can go." She didn't spare a glance at the two men that stood unobtrusively in the back round, She had almost gotten used to the two body guards...almost. She raced up the stairs and dumped her bag in her old room before going to the bathroom to change her clothes.

Jess was certain Natalie would be a while but was surprised when Natalie came down stairs in just over 5 minutes. Looking over her redheaded sister Jess smiled widely, "Wow." Natalie wore a long figure hugging blue halter dress that showed off her body to its fullest. Her hair was swept up in a French twist and looked very sexy with the little strands framing her face. The blue heels gave her added height and gave her the look of sexy elegance.

Natalie grinned, "You didn't think I would let you be the only belle at the ball did you?" Natalie was really pleased with her choice of dress. While she didn't dress to impress the men, she already had the only one she wanted, she did want to look good.

"Ball? Its only a club."

"Yeah but its my brothers club. Ultra Violet is cool. Wouldn't want Rex to throw me out for embarrassing him." Natalie told her with a light laugh.

Jess just shrugged and rolled her eyes. Linking her arm with Natalie she said, "Shall we?"

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Two hours later Natalie was on the dance floor with Jess causing quite a stir. The men were staring and most of the women were glaring. When the song was over they made their way, laughing and giggling, over to their drinks.

"So, you having fun?" Jess asked Natalie.

"Actually I am." Natalie shook her head in pretend wonder, "I never knew partying was so much fun." She gave a mock serious look before bursting out laughing.

Jess laughed too, she was glad she came back from London to spend some time with Natalie. She was really sad and ashamed with herself that it took Natalie almost dying, again, to bring her back to Llanview. How could she have been such a bad sister all this time. Time... That's why... Before now she had thought she had lots of time to get to really know Natalie. Even after Natalie came back from the 'dead' it still hadn't hit her that maybe there just wasn't time to do everything she had wanted to.

Sobering quickly with that line of thought Jess suddenly grabbed Natalie's hand as they sat down said, "I'm sorry for being such a bad sister Natalie. I really am sorry."

Natalie stopped laughing at the serious tone of Jessica's voice and really looked at Jessica, studying her face. She looked really sad all of a sudden and Natalie understood why. As much as Jessica had been ignoring her she had been ignoring Jessica just as much. She could have gone to London to see her family there, but she hadn't, and she couldn't blame anyone but herself for that. "Its ok. I wasn't the perfect sister either. I could have done better too."

"I'm a horrible sister. You almost died and I still didn't come home! It took you almost dying a second time to make me see the light. What kind of sister does that make me?"

"Yeah well I could have come into town with a better attitude. I understand why you thought you had to go to London. I was horrible to you." Natalie grimaced when she thought about all the horrible things she did to those she loved when she first arrived in Llanview. She had been so filled with hate and anger that she had almost lost everything she now held so very dear.

Jessica frowned. Natalie thought she had left because of her... that just wasn't true, not at all. "No, no, no. I didn't leave because of that..." She hesitated and fidgeted.

"I...I thought that I made you leave." Natalie frowned, "If it wasn't me then why DID you leave?"

Taking a deep breath Jessica said, " I left because of Antonio."

"Antonio!" Natalie was shocked. She hadn't known that Jessica and Antonio were even involved.

Jessica hadn't spoken of it to anyone but maybe now was the time to let it out. The pain of what happened still stuck with her, invading her every action till she thought she would never be free of it. "Antonio and I got drunk before I left. We got married."

Natalie's jaw dropped in shock, "You what?"

"Yeah, we got married."

"But...but... then why did you leave?" Natalie stammered out.

"We woke up the next morning and he said it was a mistake." She looked down at her hands, "I loved him, he didn't love me. I just couldn't stay after that."

"Oh Jess, I'm so sorry. I didn't know!" Natalie felt really bad for Jessica. "Are you still..." she asked gently.

"No, we had it annulled the day I left Llanview." Jess told her sadly. She gave a short un-amused laugh, "I think you are the only one in the family not to have a disastrous marriage."

Natalie frowned and said regretfully, " No I'm not..."

"You were married?" Jess asked incredulously. Natalie had never mentioned that she had been married before.

"Yeah, and it was a HUGE disaster." Natalie thought for a moment, trying to decide how much to say, then decided to just lay it down with the bare facts, just the facts, leaving out most of the truly ugly parts.

"I was seventeen when it happened. Living alone with Roxy was hell but I only had a couple of months to go till I graduated so it wasn't too bad. I met him when I was looking into apartments of my own. He was nice at first but then..."

"Then?"

"I found out what a bastard he was. He started following me everywhere wouldn't leave me alone. Kept telling me he loved me. I was so creeped out by him but when I called the cops about it I got a picture of Rex in the mail. It had a crosshair over Rex's face with a message that if I called the cops again he would kill Rex. After that I tried to avoid him but I couldn't. Eventually he blackmailed me into marrying him. I didn't understand why, it just made no sense. But after that happened he just left, disappeared, but then he came back when Allison told me I was a Buchanan. He demanded all my money, said he would leave me alone if I gave it to him. But by that time I had already put it in a trust for any children I might have. He was so pissed about that. He attacked me but I fought him off, I hit him in the head with a phone. There was blood all over. I thought I had killed him."

"Oh Natalie..." Jessica said sadly, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want anyone to know," Natalie said, "Rex would have found out what I had done to protect him and he would have felt terrible. He's already carrying around so much guilt because of how Roxy treated me..."

"You said you thought you had killed him?" Jessica picked up, "You mean you didn't?"

"Unfortunately no. He's the guy that kidnapped me the third time. Carlo Hesser. I got the marriage annulled back when I thought I killed him." Natalie was silent for a long while then said, "Boy do we know how to suck the life out of a party or what?"

Jessica took the hint for what it was and changed the subject, "Ok let's get back on the party train shall we?" She downed a drink and grabbed Natalie's hand, dragging her up and onto the dance floor.

For the rest of the night the two sisters concentrated on just having some fun, serious topics were not to be talked about.

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Natalie woke up with a groan. Her head pounded like someone was hammering on it with a jackhammer. Her stomach churned as she sat up. Looking around she was astounded at the state of her room. Clothes were strewn about the room, tossed on the floor and on every piece of furniture. Her heavy wardrobe was pushed on its side, clothes spilling out.

Shock warred with confusion as she took in the state of the room. She tried to think back to the night before but it was fuzzy, her memory was sporadic and she couldn't get a hold on enough of them to figure out what had happened.

"God, how much did I drink last night?" Natalie breathed to herself as she stood up unsteadily. Making her way to the bathroom she fumbled in the medicine cabinet for some aspirin. After taking a couple with a glass of water she slowly stumbled back to her bed and sat down. Her memory loss was really bothering her. She hadn't drank enough to cause a blackout in years and she didn't think she did this time. But obviously she had...


	19. Chapter 19

Attn: I don't own John or Natalie or any other OLTL character. I do own everyone else though. Chapter 19 

Carlo watched Llanfair intently, watching for his opportunity to get in. The first stirrings of dawn creeping over the horizon telling him that it was almost time to make his move. It was time for phase two of his plan. Natalie needed another dose of the treatment or she would start remembering things, things he didn't want her to remember right now. She still had a job to do...

After waiting for over an hour he finally had his opportunity. The maid had come out the east side patio to hand the armed guard a cup of coffee. He crept his way thru the brush and slipped into the open door as the woman flirted with the supposedly working man. It was still quite early so he doubted anyone would be up and about, as he passed Vicki's bedroom he had a sudden image of creeping into her room just sliding a pillow over her face and pushing down.

Pleasure coursed thru his veins as he imagined her struggling weakly beneath him as he pushed harder and harder down on the pillow until she had no breath left in her treacherous body.

Before he knew it he knew what he was doing he had crossed the hall and opened up her door. She wasn't there... 'That's right, she was out of town,' he suddenly remembered, well what he had planned next would bring her back in a hurry. Shaking himself out of his murderous thoughts he quietly closed the door and headed further down the hall.

Finally he was out side of Natalie's door. He paused for an endless moment, listening. She was awake, he could hear her moving around. Turning the knob silently he opened the door slowly. She was heading to the bathroom unsteadily, and to his good fortune she was facing the opposite direction of the bedroom door.

As she entered the bathroom he reached into his pocket and drew out a syringe, gazing at it with a twisted look of glee. Carefully he positioned himself against the wall outside the bathroom door and waited for Natalie to emerge, taking in the condition of her room as he waited. He smiled cunningly, 'so his call last night to her had caused her to trash her room...' he thought to himself... perfect... she was under his control...

Natalie took a long shower, trying to remember what had happened the night before. She remembered going out with Jess, she remembered talking with her about Carlo and how he had forced her to marry him. After that they had danced and had fun. She remembered getting a phone call but everything after that was fuzzy. "Ugh!" she whispered to herself. 'Why did I drink so much?' she wondered.

When she was finished shower she toweled off and slipped on some casual clothes. Wrapping her hair in a towel she headed out of the bathroom. As soon as she crossed the threshold a gloved and clamped over her mouth and pulled her back against a large body. "Mmph!" she tried to shout out but the hand muffled the noise. Before she could do anything else she felt a sudden pain in her neck and then everything went black.

"Hey, John!" Natalie said sexily as she wrapped her arms around him from behind.

John smiled and turned around. "Hey," he said gruffly. Wrapping his arms around her he pulled her closer to him in a tight hug. "How was your night out with Jess?"

"Ok I guess." Natalie smiled some and said, " We talked and sorted some stuff out; I found out that she is actually fin when she lets go of the goody- goody image." She looked up at him from the embrace, trying to ignore the two guards that lurked nearby.

"I'm glad you had fun." John told her, "but I have to tell you, I missed you."

Natalie pulled away for a moment to grin at him, he was so sweet sometimes. It was hard for her to remember that they had met under such dire conditions, that they hadn't known each other for years. Having a sudden urge to telling him how much he meant to her she said, "You know, I'm kinda glad I got kidnapped."

He looked at her incredulously, "Why in gods name would you say that?"

"Cause it gave me you. If all that bad stuff hadn't happened then I might not have ever met you and I can't imagine my life with out you."

John was touched beyond belief. That was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him. Brushing the hair from her face he pulled her close and kissed her tenderly, forgetting that they were at the station in front of dozens of cops. When he pulled back the men in the room began clapping and wolf whistling. He grinned as Natalie blushed red.

Embarrassed yet pleased Natalie pulled back and said, "You ready to go home yet?"

John nodded, "yeah," wrapping his arm around her waist he guided her out of the building.

"So wanna play some pool?" John asked as they passed the pool table at Rodi's.

Natalie grinned widely and said, "You know it! Prepare to get the pants beaten off you..." she gave a naughty grin that spoke of the direction her thoughts had taken.

He returned a salacious grin but said, "not here."

Natalie fake pouted at him before grabbing a cue. "I'll break." At that she set up the table and then leaned down to take her shot, giving John a clear view down her overflowing cleavage.

John just watched with an amused look on his face. He loved to watch her work the table. Her movements sexy and sure as she sank ball after ball. Every time she bent over he wanted to cup her breasts and give them a little squeeze.

"I won!" Natalie announced, breaking him out of his lustful thoughts. Looking at the table he almost laughed aloud. While he had been day dreaming about her breasts she had cleared the entire table. Heaving a fake sigh he said, "didn't even let me have one turn huh?"

Natalie laughed at that. "As if you would have even noticed if I had missed. I saw that look in your eyes..." flashing him a saucy smirk she adjusted her bra.

"Busted," he muttered loud enough for her to hear and then laughed with her when she giggled at his tone.

"Lets get something to eat," he suggested.

"Kay," Natalie told him as they made their way to the bar.

"Hey Mac!" Natalie greeted the older man behind the counter.

"Hey Nat. Good to see you up and around. You have had us all worried these last few months." Mac told her.

"Yeah, Its been pretty crazy lately. I'm just trying to deal with it all." She gave a fond smile at John and said, "It helps to have so much support from friends and family."

Mac caught the look and grinned, 'young love..." he thought to himself. "So what can I get you two?"

"Couple of burgers and fries. Two cokes and some cherry pie for dessert. We'll be over there," John pointed to a little nook along the left wall.

"Gotcha," he told them, "I'll have one of the girls bring your order over."

Natalie nodded and followed John over to the corner booth. It was very private and very romantic. Sitting down they cuddle up next to one another, his arm around her shoulders their hands playing with each other's hand as they talked quietly.

Three days later creeping silently in the pitch black of the midnight hours Natalie made her way thru the silent abandoned parking lot. Carrying a large can of gas she snuck into the building and began dousing everything with the liquid.

Once the can was empty she tossed the can into the middle of the room with gloved hands and walked to the entrance of the building. At the door way she paused, reached into her pocked and pulled out a lighter. Flicking the flint, she stared at the flame that emerged with a blank look on her face. After a moment she tossed the lighter into a pool of gasoline and watched as it caught fire immediately.

After another moment of watching the flames she turned and snuck back out the way she came.

**To be continued... **


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

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The next morning Natalie woke to the shrill ring of the telephone. She groaned and rolled over, trying to go back to sleep.

"Hello?" John rasped, also awakened by the ringing phone.

"Hey, John. It's Bo. Is Natalie around?" He sounded serious...almost grim.

"Yeah, Hang on..." There was a pause while John handed Natalie the phone

"Natalie, its your uncle Bo" John told her quietly.

Natalie groaned again and sat up taking the phone. "What's up Uncle Bo?"

"Hey, Sorry to call you so early but Crossroads burned to the ground this morning and I thought you might want to come down and be with your mom." Bo said solemnly. The fire had happened early in the morning, around 2 am. When he had called Vicki to tell her she had flown back immediately. Her reaction to the news was devastating. Crossroads had been where she had met Ben, where they had had a lot of their best memories. To lose all that had really hit her hard. That was why he had called both Natalie and Jessica.

"Oh my god!" Natalie was completely shocked. "What happened?... Mom's home?"

"Yeah I called her when I heard the call over the radio. She is at the station with me right now. I called Jess down too. I think she really needs you girls."

Natalie looked at John and said to Bo, "We'll come right down." That said she hung up the phone and just sat there on the bed for several moments, stunned.

Then she turned to John and said, "There was a fire at Crossroads last night. It burned to the ground."

Ever the cop, "Arson?"

"Bo didn't say. But he called Mom when he first heard. She came right back to Llanview. I guess she is real shaken up. He wants me to come down there and be with her." Natalie got up from the bed and went to the bathroom to shower and dress.

John got up and dressed too. When Natalie came out of the bathroom he used it and then they left to go into town.

************************

Carlo laughed as he read the paper this morning. Crossroads burned to the ground. Natalie was progressing even better than he had hoped. The injections kept her totally under his spell... so to speak.

Soon, maybe even tonight, it would be time for the grand finale of his plan.

************************

When Natalie got back to John's that night she was emotionally exhausted. Dealing with her mom and also with Jess had been hard. Vicki had been almost inconsolable with the loss of her last tie to Ben. Even now thinking back on it Natalie got tears in her eyes. Whoever had done this really knew how to hurt Vicki.

Natalie sat on the couch for a long time thinking about what had been happening to her family lately. First she had been kidnapped, by Carlo Hesser no less. That man was a nightmare and she knew he was up to something. She just wished she knew what it was. Every time she thought about him she got this feeling that she was forgetting something, something important, but every time she tried to concentrate on the feeling it went away.

Then there was BE secrets being leaked and now this, crossroads burning down. It was like someone was after the entire family, which thinking about it made sense considering Carlo was still out there. But how would he have leaked BE secrets, its not like they were just out there for him to grab, everything that had been leaked had been in Asa's personal file cabinet.

It was something she would talk to John about when he got home. He had probably thought of Carlo already but she would feel better talking about it with him. Maybe she should call Bo and tell him her theory, but she hesitated to do that for 2 reasons, one he had probably already thought of that and two she had no proof. Well, John would be home soon...

With that thought she lay down on the couch to wait for him. It wasn't long before the emotional toll of the day took hold and she fell asleep.

She was still asleep when John got home more than an hour later. He smiled as he looked down at her, she looked so much at peace lying there. He hated to wake her up after what was obviously a really hard day.

Sitting down in the chair next to the couch he watched her sleep for a long while before a thought came to him. She had been planning to get the rest of her clothes from Llanfair today, he could go get them for her while she slept he thought with a smile. Save her the trouble, and another dose of upset Vicki and Jessica. He knew that she loved her family but he also knew she needed a break from all the family drama too.

Placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, he got up and quietly left the apartment. On his way out he nodded to the police officer that he had watching Natalie. He believed he could keep her safe from Carlo or any other threat but he knew that it was better to be over prepared than not enough....

************************

Natalie woke once again to the ringing of a phone, this time it was her cell phone. She looked around blurrily wondering if John had made it home yet. She didn't see him in the apartment so she figured the answer was no.

"Hello?"

There was some strange music playing when she put the phone to her ear and it made her head fuzzy, "Hello?" she asked again, this time more softly and slightly dream like.

The music continued and Natalie blacked out, her body not her own anymore but doing the biding of a man that would use her to destroy all that she held dear.

************************

Carlo hung up the phone and smiled evilly. As soon as John had left the building he had killed the guard that had been watching the place so he could get Natalie alone. So much planning, so much time and energy put into this one moment. In mere minutes he would have his revenge. The Buchanan empire would fall and the Buchanan's would finally feel the pain he had suffered at their hand!

He looked around, the night black and ominous. Fog blanketed the ground giving everything a feel of mystery. Such a suiting feeling for such a time. The tree at which he stood was big and impressive with its limbs hanging at odd angles. The wind made the branches move and the leaves rattle, giving the tree the appearance of reaching for something, making it that much more intimidating. Almost as intimidating as the man standing under it, just waiting for his little pawn to show up.

Bo Buchanan's house stood in front of him, large and regal. Not like the Buchanan mansion or even Llanfair but the building had its own feel. More family friendly yet impressive and well made. The fence around the property made it stand out even more from the rest of the houses in the neighborhood. Inside was his revenge. Come the morning he would be gone and the Buchanan's would have nothing. Such a perfect plan....

Natalie's arrival interrupted his inner musings. Watching as she got out of her car mechanically he noticed with great pleasure that she was carrying exactly what she was supposed to be. That Natalie was to be the instrument of the destruction of the Buchanan's and the knife the tool was perfect, just perfect.

When Natalie walked up to the house and used her key to open the locked door he followed, not wanting to miss a moment of his revenge.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

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**

The house was eerily silent as Natalie walked through the door. The ticking of a clock was the only noise to be heard as she walked into the house, smearing a bit of blood on the doorjamb from the cut she had gotten when she had cut her hand on the gate in front of Bo's house. Slowly Natalie made her way through the foyer and to the staircase that went to the second floor. Her footsteps muffled by the thick carpeting.

At the top of the stairs she paused her body trembling as if fighting some inner battle. After a long moment the trembling stopped and she continued on her quest. Walking down a long hallway she passed room after room until she reached the one she wanted. With no other sound but the even breaths she took she opened the door and walked inside, the razor sharp blade in her hand flashing, reflecting the moon light against the cold steel.

************************** **

Carlo had followed Natalie into the house, wanting to see this moment of glory. His revenge would be devastating to those he sought to destroy. Killing a beloved member of the Buchanan clan would be like a killing strike to the entire family. After tonight they would know that loss that he lived with every day. They would know the seething hate, the burning need to make those responsible suffer. It would all end tonight... and while he was off drinking tequila in Mexico they would be morning and grieving wondering why their precious Natalie would do such a thing.

Ahhh Dear Natalie. Once his wife, though in name only, now the instrument he used to carve out his revenge.

************************** **

John arrived at Llanfair slightly before 10pm so he figured that there would be someone still up at the mansion. He was unsurprised that it was Jessica and not Vicki that answered the door when he rang the bell.

"Hey, John," Jessica greeted him. Something wrong? Is it Natalie?" she sounded a little panicked as if she was expecting something to be wrong.

"No, I'm just here to get the rest of her clothes. She said she left some in her closet," John told her reassuringly.

Jessica was a little confused, "Why isn't she picking them up?"

John smiled and explained, "She was so exhausted that she fell asleep. I figured I would just pick them up and let her sleep."

Jessica nodded, knowing that Natalie had indeed had a long day. Dealing with Vicki's grief over Crossroads was exhausting on both the mental and physical levels. She let John in and led him to Natalie's room, "You need any help?"

John looked relieved and said, "Yeah that'd be great." He didn't exactly know which clothes were Natalie's and which weren't.

Jessica figured that this was the perfect time to talk to John about her concerns about Natalie's behavior. "John, have you noticed anything strange about Natalie lately?" she asked as she started to empty one of the dresser drawers into a large suitcase.

"Not really. She has been a little preoccupied but that I think that's normal for all she has been through." John answered as he made his way to the closet. When he opened the door he noticed that most of the clothes were already gone but there were several shelves with shoes and a couple bags on them. Reaching for the closest bag he turned his head to Jessica and asked, "Why? Has she been acting weird with you?"

Jessica shrugged and said, "its nothing specific but she keeps forgetting things and the other day she couldn't remember where she was the night before. Sometimes she gets this look in her eye like she is hearing something that I just don't hear."

He didn't think that it was anything serious, just Natalie being preoccupied with something. Jessica did tend to over react to things.... Until he opened the duffle bag he was holding. The stench of gasoline hit him like a punch to the stomach. "What the he.." he murmured almost under his breath.

Jessica heard his stunted exclamation and turned toward him quickly. Then the smell of gas assaulted her nose as well and she rushed over to the bag and grabbed the clothes from inside. "Jesus! Look at this!" She examined the clothes and knew that they were what Natalie had been wearing last night... the night before Crossroads had burned down. "John you don't think that Natalie...? No she wouldn't! Why would she?"

John was at a loss. He knew that this looked bad, really bad. Natalie just wouldn't have done this, she knew how much that place had meant to Vicki, and she wouldn't have burned it down. No matter how mad she could have been at her mother. "I don't think she burned down Crossroads. She wouldn't have burned down any building."

Jessica wanted to believe him but the fact that Natalie had gas soaked clothing and that she had hidden it in her closet told a different story. "I want to believe that but how do we explain this?" she held up that shirt and shook it in under his nose for good measure.

"I'm sure Natalie can tell us why she has these." He hoped so anyway. He hoped that love wasn't blinding him to Natalie and what she was capable of. There must be some explanation for the clothes. "I'll call her right now," he said taking out his phone and dialing his own number, knowing that Natalie would be asleep he let it ring a bunch of times. After more than 30 rings he hung up and looked worried, "she's not picking up."

"She has someone guarding the door right? We should call him and tell him to check on her." Jessica urged him.

John nodded and dialed the number for the guard and waited. When the ringing began he started to get worried when no one answered. "Damn it!" he muttered. "Pick up, come one pick up!"

Jessica watched him, her eyes widening at his muttering curses and at his frantic dialing. "What is it? What's going on?"

"He's not picking up." John told her frantically. He grabbed the clothes from Jessica and turned toward the door, "I'm going over there," he told her.

Jessica wanted to go with him and had her coat on before he could get to the door, "I'm going too!"

Together they raced out the door, worried about Natalie.

********************** **

Matthew slept soundly, not noticing Natalie creeping into his bedroom slowly. Her eyes blank, her movements slow and measured. Her arm hung loosely at her side, the knife clenched tightly in her hand. Her footfalls muffled by the thick, lush, carpeting as she made her way to the bedside. The moon shown brightly in the room lighting up the way.

The mirror across the room reflected the light and Natalie's image.

Carlo watched from the doorway, his face in a twisted expression of glee. He suppressed his gloating laughter so he didn't startle her.

She stopped at the edge of the bed and Matthew stirred. His eyes opened slowly and he blinked, confused. "Natalie?"

She didn't reply, instead she raised the knife and lunged forward, the knife descending in a slow but sure ark.

"Natalie?" his voice shrill and frightened, "Natalie, stop!" He scrambled back on the bed till he hit the headboard, nowhere left to go.

The knife caught the moonlight with a flash, catching Natalie's eye. Suddenly she slammed back into full consciousness and let out a gasp of horror! "Oh My God!"

************************

John raced up the stairs to his apartment only to stop short when he saw the dead guard. Jessica almost ran into him at his abrupt stop. "John?" She questioned. She gasped in horror. "Natalie!" she said rushing past John only to be brought up short by his hand on her arm.

"No," he said, pulling out his gun and slowly going to the door. The door was slightly open and the lights out. He used the tip of the gun to push the door open and slowly entered the room. After a slow but thorough check he knew that Natalie was indeed gone. Thinking she had been kidnapped he got on the phone and called Bo, who was still at the station.

"I need you to locate Natalie's phone on the GPS." He said by way of greeting when Bo picked up.

"What? Why?"

"Natalie's gone and the guard outside my room is dead," he explained quickly.

That was enough for Bo. Going to his computer he punched in Natalie's information and brought up the location. "She is at my house," he told John, puzzled by this. "I need to finish booking a suspect then I will meet you there."

John agreed then hung up the phone. Seeing Jessica's worried look he said, "She's at Bo's" I'm going over to get her. Stay here until the officer gets here. I don't want anyone touching the scene."

The request was unusual but Jessica followed it with out question. Her heart filled with worry as John raced out the door.


End file.
